ABSTRACT

In a sense this is a strange question. It could be interpreted in some quarters as suggesting that somehow teaching is being hijacked, or at least manipulated, by forces of evil beyond our control. That, however, would be both too deterministic a view and one that does not rest easily with the lived experiences of many teachers, even though there are some who might readily subscribe to such a view. We are not among them. We are not, therefore, trying to construct the case that teachers are somehow the pawns or cyphers in some sophisticated, distant and orchestrated game. That would be too simplistic, and would deny the active agency of large numbers of teachers in creating meaningful, viable and professionally satisfying lives for themselves and their students.