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Teacher Professionalism and Performance Appraisal: A Critical Discussion

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Teacher Evaluation Around the World

Abstract

The chapter covers the relationship between concepts of teaching as a professional activity and approaches to teacher performance appraisal. In its first part, the chapter considers perspectives that cross discussions about teacher professionalism. It contrasts performative views of teaching (Ball SJ, J Educ Pol 18(2):215–228, 2003) and new public management policies with views of teachers as knowledge and practical professionals. These two approaches are expressed as differences between organizational and occupational professionalism (Evetts J, Current Sociol Rev 61(5–6:778–796, 2013). From an international perspective, the chapter deals with challenges to teachers’ occupational professionalism in different contexts and examines research about this. More specifically, the chapter moves on to teacher evaluation developments in some national contexts and considers whether these mainly base their assessment criteria on teacher professionalism (formative) or on test-based learning outcomes (summative). The inclusion of teacher evaluation as part of formal career systems is discussed using (Tournier et al, Teaching career reforms: learning from experience, International Institute for Educational Planning, 2019)’s analysis of such systems, as well as studies that examine how teachers in different national contexts view their appraisal requirements. It concludes with a rephrasing of the notion of accountability that underlies teacher evaluation, in order to reclaim its meaning as a professional responsibility that teachers owe to those who respect and place trust in their work.

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Acknowledgements

Support from PIA-CONICYT Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence Project FB0003 is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Centre for Advanced Studies in Education (CIAE), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Beatrice Ávalos

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  1. Beatrice Ávalos
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Correspondence to Beatrice Ávalos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UC MIDE Measurement Center, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Jorge Manzi

  2. Center for Professional Teacher Development, Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile

    Yulan Sun

  3. UC MIDE Measurement Center, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    María Rosa García

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Ávalos, B. (2022). Teacher Professionalism and Performance Appraisal: A Critical Discussion. In: Manzi, J., Sun, Y., García, M.R. (eds) Teacher Evaluation Around the World. Teacher Education, Learning Innovation and Accountability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13639-9_5

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