Teachers’ Work, Denationalisation and Transformations in the Field of Symbolic Control: A Comparative Account

Currently there is unprecedented attention being directed at the ‘quality’ of school teachers in education systems around the world, and the part they should play in developing globally competitive knowledge-based economies (see OECD, 2001, 2005, 2009; Barber and Mourshed, 2007; Mourshed et al., 2010; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010a, 2010b; Bruns et al., 2011; World Bank Group, 2011a; MacBeath, 2012). In a series of short videos featuring ‘performers’ and ‘reformers’ in education, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in collaboration with global education consultancy firm, Pearson Education, profiles various aspects of what it regards as ‘successful’ teacher policies in countries as diverse as Singapore, Finland, Poland and Brazil. Yet closer scrutiny of the ‘key facts’ that are presented for these countries (for instance, the percentage GNP spent on education, teaching time, the presence of standards and accountability systems) suggests there is little in common regarding shared practices, raising questions about precisely what lessons are to be learned by whom.