Teacher Accountability: Reflective Professional or Competent Practitioner?

Abstract

Teacher accountability has been the focus of a series of Government reports and enactments over the past 15 years. This article argues that since the publication of Tomorrow’s Schools, Government policy making has been dominated by a managerialist approach at odds with the priorities of many educationalists. The introduction of Performance Management Systems and Professional Standards has stressed competence in a series of observable behaviours, limiting creativity and lowering morale. Changing the focus to foster internal accountability would encourage teachers to be reflective professionals seeking to improve their own practices. Adequate resourcing in terms of both time and expertise is needed to ensure the dual purposes of professional development and management appraisal can both be attained.