Teacher conceptions of education reform : a participatory action research and photovoice study

Abstract

American education reform over the last 20 years has been evaluated with a key emphasis on instructional outcomes measured via assessment of student performance with an eye toward “accountability.” This study approaches education reform from a perspective that seeks to centralize the experience of teacher practitioners while engaging them in a participatory action research effort. Utilizing the participatory action research methodology and method of photovoice, 11 public school teachers joined the effort to facilitate and examine teacher experiences of education reform in the present moment. Generally speaking, teacher participation led to findings that expand and deepen our understanding of neoliberal education reform as a permeating force within public schools. Participants related substantively negative emotional and metaphorical associations with their conceptions of reform as they have experienced it. Related to these associations, teachers express complex navigations demonstrating this inquiry format as a practice of Freirean critical reflection, and in doing so they portray their contributions in a positive frame.