Responding to the de-professionalisation of teaching: empowering teachers to enhance their pedagogy through action research

Education is embedded within a complex societal ecosystem that attempts to imbue students with the cultural norms and values of the society in which it operates. Neoliberalism ideology has been shaping education systems, policies and reforms in Australia and many other countries, since the early 1980s. Arguably, there are both benefits and challenges related to neoliberal education. For example, neoliberals advocate for education systems to be run according to free market principles, that elements of education should be privatised endogenously and exogenously, that parents/guardians and students should have more agency and that top-down management should be increased through surveillance and mandated performance. This paper addresses the last point that increased teacher accountability measures and the standardisation of student learning outcomes have resulted in the de-professionalisation of teaching. Using case study research, five expert teachers’ experiences of using action research to explore and challenge their pedagogy is
investigated. Perceptions about teacher autonomy and the de-professionalism of teaching emerged as the overarching research aim inquired whether action research can be used as a response to the declining status of the teaching profession. Findings suggest that through action research, teachers can be empowered to enhance their pedagogy, while developing meaningful and contextually relevant evidence-based practice.