The Future of Education

This paper describes and analyses some negative effects of an accountability apparatus on the professionalism of teachers. As we know, political and educational reforms in the past 30 years have been guided by the same supra-national policies [1]. It is a great reform conservative and of liberal inspiration. Although, there is no empirical evidence in the literature regarding different types of accountability and the reduction of academic inequalities attributed to the social origin [2] as well as the relationship between the evaluation mechanisms and the effectiveness of the schools. A way to make unchallenged these logics is to move the attention on technical objects. But, the idea of capturing the complexity of this reality through the construction of a battery of indicators or a composite indicator can be illusory [3]. In fact, it is too difficult to criticize the installation of these apparatus because they are responsible for general objectives that are difficult to question [4]. For example, who could refuse to improve student learning and the school management. In addition, compared with major structural changes, the changes proposed by these apparatus are modest, do not require large justifications. Besides that, this neoliberal rhetoric appeals that the accountability represents an opportunity that favor the professionalism. Instead of it is quite the opposite, as the loss of professional autonomy of teachers go against their professionalism [5]. These alienating effects on the teachers are in part because it limits the possibility that they build their own indicators, taking into account the local reality of the institution. Lastly, while the solutions proposed for improving school quality may be of good faith, it is questionable that ignore the importance of democratic processes and complex issues. Probably, we are in the presence of a rhetoric that calls permanently for the objectivity, but without methodological rigor.

Keywords: accountability, effectiveness, professionalism, evaluation, technical objects;

References: 
[1] Mons, N. (2004). Politiques de décentralisation en éducation: diversité internationale, légitimations théoriques et justifications empiriques. Revue française de pédagogie, 146(1), 41-52.
[2] Mons, N. (2009). Effets théoriques et réels des politiques d’évaluation standardisée. Revue française de Pédagogie, 169, 99-139.
[3] Guillaume, B. (2009). Indicateurs de performance dans le secteur public : entre illusion et perversité. Cités, 37(1), 101-109.
[4] Barrère, A. (2013). La montée des dispositifs : un nouvel âge de l’organisation scolaire. Carrefours de l’éducation, 36(2), 95-116.
[5] Maroy, C. (2012). Les politiques d’accountability au service de la confiance dans l’institution scolaire et les enseignants ?. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften, 34(1), 57-70.