Teachers in their Time A life history study of public school activist teachers in NSW

Abstract

This research project began as an analysis of mentoring and induction for new teachers in the NSW State secondary school system, under a new accreditation regime. The project later came to focus on the lives and work of a specific group of older teacher activists, who were themselves mentors, and their experience in the second half of the twentieth century and early part of the twenty-first century. There were eighteen experienced teacher participants. A qualitative method using semi-structured interviews was used with the average length of interview three hours. The interviews covered their family background and class origins, teacher training, induction, mentoring across their careers, roles undertaken outside the classroom, later careers, and their experiences in and reflections on the current neoliberal turn in education.

A case study approach using life history method and informed by labour process theory allowed insights into the lives and work of these activist teachers and provided a longitudinal view of their careers and the society in which they lived and taught. The participants mostly come from working class backgrounds and the thesis argues that these teachers form a distinct group of working class intellectuals. They are activist teachers, working extensively with disadvantaged student groups; they develop in others, including their colleagues, the capacity for social practice. I argue that this group form part of larger counter-hegemonic forces in play within a period of time when there was significant social change in Australia.

The longitudinal aspect of this project provided insights into mentoring practices over time, and thus provided a counterpoint to current accountability and audit cultures in schools. Most importantly it gave a voice to teachers who made a difference throughout their careers