The Advance of Neo-liberalism and Marketization and the Transformation of the Teaching Profession

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  • 新自由主義＝市場化の進行と教職の変容
  • シン ジユウ シュギ シジョウカ ノ シンコウ ト キョウショク ノ ヘンヨウ

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Abstract

<p>The wave of neo-liberalism and marketization that has swept through the field of education in the last 30 years has also led to changes in teacher environments. This paper describes four viewpoints concerning the ways in which teacher environments have changed due to neo-liberalist policies. <BR><BR>The first concerns teacher specialization. With the advance of marketization, teacher de-specialization has progressed and a trend towards the teaching profession becoming more like a service provider has occurred. This has resulted in a loss of authority on the part of teachers. At the same time, as seen in the establishment of graduate schools for teacher education, there are also moves to raise the level of specialization in the teaching profession. The characteristics of teacher policy in recent years show ambivalent movements towards both specialization and de-specialization.<BR><BR>The second concerns the emphasis on teacher performance and teacher evaluation. A teacher performance evaluation system was introduced in the Tokyo Metropolitan area in 2000, and has since spread nationwide. The purpose of the system is to build a framework within which the motivation and efforts of teachers can be appraised and reported, but the appraisal of teaching work from its outward forms is fraught with difficulties. There is also the danger that it will, to the contrary, lower teacher motivation.<BR><BR>The third concerns the trend towards the teaching profession becoming a service provider and teacher overload. Marketization has resulted in the voices of guardians, students, companies, and so on becoming more influential, increasing teacher workloads as they attempt to accommodate these voices, and bringing about an increase in the numbers of teachers taking leave of absence due to mental stress. This teacher overload has an impact on the quality of education in schools and the need to cope with this work overload has surfaced as a new task for schools.<BR><BR>The fourth concerns the decline in teacher collegiality. Teacher collegiality enlivens day-to-day communications in schools, and assists in improving the efficiency of competence formation in teachers. However, the advance of bureaucratization in the school organization, and the privatization of the teacher environment have led to an erosion of collegiality in the teaching milieu.<BR><BR>The Democratic Party of Japan was elected to power in the general election of August 2009. In its election manifesto, the Democratic Party stated that it would work for improvement in teacher capability and carry out a drastic review of the teachersʼ licensing system. How these election promises will be borne out in terms of policies is still unknown, but it is necessary to reject the notion that market principles are omnipotent and rebuild teaching as an attractive profession.</p>

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