Education and the Facade of Care: An Australian Case Study

Abstract

This chapter concerns an attempt by the state to improve the educational process by introducing a fresh teaching mode into schools. It explores the implementation of team teaching in open-plan classrooms with the help of details from a case study undertaken in an urban primary school in Queensland, Australia. It reveals that the intentions of the state are filtered and to some extent undermined by the everyday, immediate social circumstances, contingencies and constraints which pervade and encompass schools. In particular, what emerges as crucial to the success or otherwise of the team teaching mode are the relationships, experiences and attitudes of those people at the forefront of its implementation, namely of the teachers involved.