Cutting the Gordian knot of the education ‘crisis’ with teacher testing. A blunt instrument that crushes marginalised preservice teachers

Dr Kirsten Lambert (PhD); Alison Hilton EdD

doi:10.1080/02680939.2024.2405731

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Cutting the Gordian knot of the education ‘crisis’ with teacher testing. A blunt instrument that crushes marginalised preservice teachers

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Cutting the Gordian knot of the education ‘crisis’ with teacher testing. A blunt instrument that crushes marginalised preservice teachers

Dr Kirsten Lambert (PhD) and Alison Hilton EdD

Journal of Education Policy

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2024.2405731

Appears in Open Access via Read & Publish Agreements

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Abstract

Neoliberal-ableism

discourse

pre-service teachers

high-stakes testing

teacher education

disability

Education policy, sociology and philosophy

This paper offers a brief yet evocative glimpse into marginalised pre-service teachers’ (PST) experiences of teacher testing in Australia’s High-stakes Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE). Utilising Critical Disability Theory (CDT)in particular, Goodley’s (2016) concept of neoliberal-ableism, we problematise teacher testing as a gatekeeping tool for students undertaking teacher education. The article highlights how neoliberal education policies in Australia have disempowered and turned away talented and empathetic future teachers. By illuminating their embodied experiences of stress and anxiety, we interrogate neoliberal discourses of power and how teacher testing is used as a blunt instrument to solve complex problems and funnel public funding to private corporations. As part of a larger longitudinal research project, we offer four narrative portraits giving voice to vulnerable PSTs who have become unwitting victims of the high-stakes test juggernaut. This article focuses on five emergent themes from the research: (a) the embodied impact of stress and anxiety on test-takers, (b) withholding of information regarding testing processes and support, (c) the lack of differentiation available to PSTs (d) impacts of edu-businesses and the business of education on vulnerable participants and (e) a passion for differentiation.

Details

Title: Cutting the Gordian knot of the education ‘crisis’ with teacher testing. A blunt instrument that crushes marginalised preservice teachers
Authors/Creators: Dr Kirsten Lambert (PhD) (Author) - Murdoch University, School of Education
Alison Hilton EdD (Author) - Murdoch University, School of Education
Publication Details: Journal of Education Policy
Publisher: Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Identifiers: 991005703867807891
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Education
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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