ABSTRACT

Having emerged as a theory of political economy that prioritized free market philosophy and self-interested individuals, neoliberalism also influences humans’ interpretations of social realities which are often situated within inequalities in various forms. The educational sphere is one important domain that has been targeted by constructions of neoliberal common sense. With an emphasis on the urgency of competing in the so-called ‘(global) knowledge economy’, learners of neoliberal age are directed towards acquiring knowledge and skill-sets that must be standardized, tracked, and assessed. To enact such a constrained paradigm of education, governments worldwide have also implemented reforms in teacher preparation and development. Due to the perceptions of ‘best-practices’ or ‘successful teaching’ emerging from these reforms, teachers often self-regulate to work toward particular types of professional practice based on trends and standards generated by global and domestic institutions with varied interests and visions for public education which often do not situate educating for democracy and social justice as core priorities. Under such neoliberal influences, “successful teachers” may not find sufficient resources to critically reflect on global inequities and meaningfully integrate ways of tackling them in their teaching. In this chapter, adopting a critical lens, we discuss the construction of “successful teaching” in neoliberal times and offer examples of counter-narratives that emerged from other studies in this book. At a time when teacher voice and agency continue to be devalued in neoliberal discourses, this chapter offers a critically oriented conceptual voice to this volume that explores narratives of teachers’ professional learning and identities emerging from unique and usually challenging sociocultural contexts.