Gaps & Spaces: English teachers and the implementation of curriculum

Abstract

Policy changes in Australia mean that teachers are often adapting to new expectations in the classroom. A succession of broadly neoliberal policies around standardisation and competition have been introduced in Australia, subtly shifting the emphases in the job of a teacher. A suite of measures has been implemented that are largely products of this policy assemblage; measures such as the NAPLAN tests, MySchool website, and the Australian Curriculum. While these create pressures that can negatively impact the work of teachers, there always remains a possibility for positive effects. This paper draws on interviews that were conducted with teachers as they prepared for the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. Throughout the interviews, a consistent theme that emerged was the conceptualisation of ‘gaps’ and ‘spaces’ in the programs and texts they were offering in the teaching of English. This paper seeks to analyse the ‘deficit’ notion of a ‘gap’ and the way it can be contrasted with the ‘generative’ idea of a ‘space’. It draws on Bourdieu’s thinking tools, particularly the notions of doxa and illusio, to discuss the way ‘taken-for-granted’ assumptions come to exist in these cases. It then uses Flyvbjerg’s Rationality & Power (1998) to explore different ways in which teachers think about these ‘gaps and spaces’, particularly as they prepare new materials in response to curricular changes. While these pedagogical ‘rationalities’ are deeply bound in the power of policy and politics, the act of implementation by teachers – where power intersects a generative habitus – creates an opportunity for transformation. By exploring the ‘gaps and spaces’ involved in preparing for a new year of learning, this paper identifies some of the possibilities that exist for good teaching in Australia’s highly politicised contemporary policy environment.