The Context of Teacher Professionalism: A Case Study of Teacher Perceptions of Professionalism at the University Laboratory School.

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dc.contributor.author Capen, Stephanie M.
dc.contributor.department Education
dc.date.accessioned 2019-05-28T19:50:00Z
dc.date.available 2019-05-28T19:50:00Z
dc.date.issued 2017-05
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/62335
dc.title The Context of Teacher Professionalism: A Case Study of Teacher Perceptions of Professionalism at the University Laboratory School.
dc.type Thesis
dcterms.abstract The nature of teacher professionalism has been both widely discussed and heavily contested over the last few decades. The systemic educational reform that has overtaken America’s schools has entrenched public education in bureaucratic structures, emphasized standards, assessment, and accountability, and consequently redefined the nature of teacher professionalism. Problems of practice and curriculum have been replaced with problems of data and measurements for success. Coinciding with the accountability movement is the emergence of charter schools from the starkly different contexts of both neoliberal ideology and progressive education. Despite the substantive discourse on teacher professionalism, limited research has been done with regard to teachers’ perceptions of professionalism, particularly research in the form of qualitative studies attending to this topic. This paper will describe the findings of a qualitative case study exploring the phenomenon of teacher professionalism as it emerges within a charter school context. Drawing from both survey and interview data collected from teachers at the charter school, this study presents three major findings. First, the teachers in the case study describe professionalism as going beyond “doing one’s job.” Second, teacher decision making with regard to matters of curriculum and instruction occur entirely in relation to the best interest of the students. Third, leadership orientation and trust contribute to teachers’ sense of professionalism, as well as their ability to enact their conceptions of professionalism. These findings, coupled with the literature suggest that there are multiple contexts in which professionalism is situated, and through which educational reform targeting teacher professionalism must be filtered. Finally, this paper will describe implications and raise additional questions based on the findings, for teacher education programs, teachers’ unions, professional development, and education reform.
dcterms.description Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017.
dcterms.language eng
dcterms.publisher University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
dcterms.rights All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
dcterms.type Text
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