This case study explored sociocultural forces that influenced three 10th grade public high school biology teachers' instructional goals, instructional acts, and identity narratives related to the teaching of evolution. Primary data included field observations of classroom instruction and teacher interviews. Secondary data included informal…

Background/Context: In response to state-level test-based accountability and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school administrators increasingly view centralized curriculum and prescribed instructional strategies as the most direct means of increasing student performance. This movement toward standardization reduces teachers' autonomy and…

In the era of No Child Left Behind, principals are increasingly held accountable for student performance. But are teacher labor agreements giving them enough flexibility to manage effectively? This study answers this question and others. It examines how much flexibility school leaders enjoy on key dimensions of management in America's fifty…

This article inquires into the "calculative practices" that are used to regulate quality in higher education. After providing a historical snapshot of the antecedents of quality regimes, I discuss university ranking systems (league tables) and the UK's Research Assessment Exercise. I ask two questions: first, what do the visibilities of…

From his very earliest days in office, Tony Blair believed that if he was to achieve his broader educational reforms then the teaching profession itself needed modernising--it had to become a "21st century profession". This paper charts the background to this aspiration and the complex range of interrelated policies used to achieve that…

According to this author, a quiet revolution is picking up steam in the nation's private secondary schools, with broad implications for college admissions and for teaching and learning on both sides of the transition from high school to college. About 50 of the nation's leading college-preparatory schools have opted out of the College Board's…

The introduction of the Data Protection Act 1998 has presented significant challenges to counselling recording, through its detailed requirements for the processing of personal data. The impact of these changes on recording in Higher Education counselling services in the UK is explored, using responses from an electronic survey of universities and…

In an age of greater government control and direction of schools, and yet simultaneously a greater devolution of responsibility, there is an international literature suggesting that many in leadership positions feel so pressured that they are seeking early retirement, or simply not coming forward in the first place (e.g. Gronn, 2003; Fullan,…

Teachers' work in tuition-free (non-classroom) time was investigated to see to what degree teachers do work that could be considered as qualifying for the status of professional autonomy. The question arises in Sweden and elsewhere as both teachers and the state actively, and in tandem, strive to professionalise the work of the teacher. Abbott's…

Shifts in the expectations of the public, in the practice of medicine, and in the state of the art of health education call for an examination of the nature of the relationship between the health education and medical professions. This article examines a number of issues related to these shifts and discusses the potential and pitfalls of this…

The author argues that, for many teacher actions, personal reasons are subordinate to external standards and that the scope of these actions is broader than assumed. People in a professional role must ask whether their actions and general dispositions conform to given standards and goals. (MT)

Charter schools grant significantly more autonomy to their principals than do traditional public schools. This report examines how eight Massachusetts charter-school principals deal with autonomy in five areas: teacher hiring, budgetary control, instruction and curriculum, organizational design, and accountability. The freedom to hire their own…

A survey of 15 nurse practitioners initially prepared as clinical nurse specialists found that their post-master's training broadened knowledge and skills in patient data collection and increased role autonomy and clinical decision making. Results verified the practice domains in the curriculum guidelines of the National Association of Nurse…

Describes how risk, responsibility, and love of creative teaching precipitate one teacher's educational experiences, asserting that as a culture, it is important to develop a genuine respect for the art of teaching and a demand for high quality creative teaching. Suggests that it is risky to encourage the notion that teachers are interchangeable…

A group of nurses at a rural, psychiatric hospital used participatory action research to explore issues of autonomy and found that they could successfully challenge institutional norms and ideas that limit nurses' autonomy. (Author/JOW)