Wieland Wermke

Contextualizing Teacher Autonomy in time and space : a model for comparing various forms of governing the teaching profession

This study aims to develop a model for comparing different forms of teacher autonomy in various national contexts and at different times. Understanding and explaining local differences and global similarities in the teaching profession in a globalized world require conceptions that contribute to further theorization of comparative and international education. Drawing on a governance perspective and building on considerations of curriculum evaluation, the study argues that teacher autonomy is a crucial factor that has to be conceptualized in its national and historical contexts. It presents an examination of the teaching profession from both an institutional and service perspective. In both perspectives, teacher autonomy, framed by curriculum evaluation, can be regarded as both extended and restricted, but not necessarily at the same time. This point of view enables us to discuss different forms of autonomy in relation to each other. To support this idea, the study discusses cases of teachers in various contexts of time and space.

The changing nature of autonomy: Transformations of the late Swedish teaching profession

ABSTRACT This article discusses teacher autonomy in the case of the Swedish teaching profession since the 1980s. It is argued that deregulation, decentralization, and marketization reforms of the 1990s have indeed increased teacher autonomy, but in some respects also led to a increase of complexity in the Swedish school system. In order to handle this complexity, the state intensified a standardization of schooling, which restricts teacher autonomy today. Relevant the papers understanding is that teacher autonomy is always about control, exerted internally by the profession itself and facilitated externally by state standards. The article argues that the restriction of teacher autonomy in recent times is also related to a simplified understanding of the phenomenon in the reforms of the 1990s.

Curriculum versus Didaktik revisited : towards a transnational curriculum theory

no abstract available Citation: NordSTEP 2015, 1 : 27014 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/nstep.v1.27014

Approaching the space issue in Nordic curriculum theory: national reflections of globalisation in social studies/citizenship textbook pictures in Sweden, England and Germany

This article focuses on globalisation in Nordic curriculum theory by investigating the issue of space. It puts forward an increased interest in the practical levels of schooling and argues that globalisation should be investigated not only as a policy phenomenon but also as instructional matter in different contexts. It presents two perspectives of space, a container and a relational perspective. A distinction between the two perspectives contributes to an understanding of how the world is constructed at different levels of curriculum. The article tests its argument with an explorative social studies and citizenship textbook study in the national contexts of Sweden, England and Germany. It can be shown that all cases differ in their portrayals of globalisation and in the constructions of space-related issues.

Autonomy in education: theoretical and empirical approaches to a contested concept

No abstract available. (Published: 3 July 2015) Citation: NordSTEP 2015, 1: 28841 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/nstep.v1.28841

Silent and explicit borrowing of international policy discourses. The case of the Swedish teacher education reforms of 2001 and 2011

The article presents different models of comparative education by discussing the government committee reports (SOU) which prepared the Swedish teacher education reforms of 2001 and 2011. These serve as examples for different kinds of policy borrowing from an international Bologna process discourse in national government document. The article facilitates Waldow (2009) term of “silent borrowing”. The reform of 2001 shows distinct references to international discourses without making this explicit. The reform of 2011 is then an example for explicit borrowing. The related government committee report refers very obvious to the Bologna process. However, this is seen as strategy in order to mark its distinction to its predecessor reform. Our cases are assumed to show how socio-historical and political contexts condition national discourses’ recourses of legitimation.

Living in an era of comparisons: comparative research on policy, curriculum and teaching

ABSTRACT The articles in this special issue include different perspectives on comparative policy studies with an aim to understand transnational education policies in relation to the logic of national educational systems and to grasp the ongoing reframing of teacher identity and teaching as a result of the policy activities of ‘new’ and coordinated international actors. This special issue aims to contribute to a continued qualified investigation in curriculum issues at the various levels within the public education system, as well as in the international policy movements, affecting public education differently in different nations. A ‘comparative curriculum research’ inspired by theories and methods from comparative education might be helpful in this endeavour.

Decision-making and control: perceived autonomy of teachers in Germany and Sweden

ABSTRACT Teacher autonomy has become an increasingly popular research topic over the past decade, reflecting wider national and global education trends. In this light, this article investigates and compares the perceptions of German and Swedish teachers concerning their professional autonomy. We analyse teachers’ perceptions using a grid, and view teacher autonomy as a multidimensional phenomenon taking place in different domains (educational, social, developmental and administrative) and at different levels (classroom, school, profession). The findings show that the teachers interviewed in Germany and Sweden value autonomy in various domains and dimensions differently, even if there also are many similarities. In instruction, that is, the educational autonomy domain, they perceive themselves to be very autonomous, in particular in relation to choices of content and method. Autonomous work in the classroom arena is also seen as the very core of the teaching profession. Overall, German teachers perceive themselves to be significantly involved in more areas of their work, and they refer much more to decisions which are to be made, whereas their Swedish colleagues are more concerned about control. Finally, we discuss the findings in relation to different nation-specific forms of extended or restricted autonomy teacher autonomy.

Governing teachers by professional development: state programmes for continuing professional development in Sweden since 1991

Abstract The purpose of this article was to analyse how teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) contributes to the government of the teaching profession. This is done by examining the CPD initiatives organized by two Swedish national educational agencies since 1991 involving the school subjects of Swedish (standard language education) and mathematics. Four programmes of professional development are identified in the investigated material, each motivated by specific conceptions of teachers and professional development. One important trend is that agency engagement in teachers’ CPD and school development has increased over time and that CPD programmes have become more prescriptive and elaborate in their use of evaluations. While this may result in a more standardized and centrally governed teaching profession, centrally governed initiatives could also provide teachers with professional arenas for developing ideas without being influenced by local school management.