The Master’s in Teaching and Learning

Expanding utilitarianism in the continuing professional development of teachers in England

Bibliographic Data

ID11488002
AuthorsJo Frankham (Liverpool John Moores University, corresponding author), Sandra Hiett (Liverpool John Moores University)
Year2011
Volume26
Issue6
Pages803-818
Publication date2011-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Education Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-0939 • E-ISSN: 1464-5106
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02680939.2011.554997
OpenAlexW2050003903
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited33

The article focuses on the policy rhetoric of the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL). This is a new degree being launched in the summer of 2010 aimed, initially, at teachers who have just joined the profession. The degree presages the aspiration for a Master’s level teaching profession in England. Professional development as conceived in the MTL is continuous rather than continuing and permeating the vision is the language of ‘personalisation’. Teachers will be accompanied on the journey by an ‘in-school coach’. These notions suggest a highly tailored approach to continuing professional development (CPD), with careful attention to the identification of teachers’ needs and close support from a colleague. The article argues that, contrary to this impression, the MTL marks a new and significant step in expanding the utilitarianism of the English education system. The MTL represents a deepening hold on education by the state and a growing scepticism about the value of higher education in the CPD of teachers. It also aspires to a changing culture in schools as the workplace becomes the locus for the CPD of teachers. As other authors have described, the national character of education systems in Europe and in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Asia reflect an increasing instrumentality. The MTL, then, can be seen as part of a global phenomenon; in this case the policy lever of CPD is employed to support performative and audit policy agendas via a rigid accountability system. The MTL also represents a particular form of neo-liberal governmentality where increasing centralisation is ‘masked’ by a ‘simulacra of care’

Accountability · Governmentality · Managerialism · Paternalism · Pedagogy · Political science · Professional development · Rhetoric · Skepticism · Sociology · Utilitarianism · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law · Public Administration · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

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