ABSTRACT
Beginning with the Bourdieusian notion of “hysteresis”, chapter 4 argues that the potential for change in the field of education is prevented by the persistent fear of economic collapse that manifests as a series of transformational flow-on effects with consequences for classroom teachers. State intervention in the form of major structural reforms shapes the field of education through the implementation and imposition of “doxa” and ways of doing. The resultant paralysis creates a mismatch between the Deweyan precept of the educative learning experience, which caters to a classroom teacher’s autonomy via their attitudes, practice/s and disposition/s (habitus), and the governmentalization of the discourse/s of standardization. The chapter draws upon a small-scale study of teacher autonomy where two secondary school classroom teachers (Margaret and Trevor) from the Australian state of Victoria have been selected due to their exceptionally long experience in the profession. The study focused on explicating the operationalization of teacher agency over a period of time in an education policy environment currently focused on student learning growth and achievement where the latter defines narrowly as forms of knowledge, skills and a mindset that accepts the uncertainties of contemporary labour markets.
