Education or quality of teaching? Implications for Australian democracy

The argument being made here is that democratic life is more likely if educators actually ‘educate’, rather than comply with quality of teaching approaches as promoted by the Australian federal government. Engaging with some philosophy of education can assist educators to resist being seduced by notions such as ‘quality teaching’, ‘evidence-based’ practices and ‘impact’ and to exercise the intellectual and political resolve necessary to ensure educational practices promote democracy (Biesta, 2010a) and are not surrendered to the control of non-educators. Blake et al. (2000, p. xiii) identify that philosophy is usually avoided in discussions regarding quality, evidence-based approaches and accountability because bureaucrats are “intolerant of philosophical debate”. By drawing largely upon the works of Dewey and his notions of education, democracy and the science of education, it is argued that what is needed is for teachereducators to focus on ‘educating’ teachers, as professionals, to be critically scientific and democratic.