Re-professionalizing teaching: the new professionalism in the United States

This article examines the re-professionalization of teaching across a transformative decade of market-based and standards-based reforms in the U.S.A. The first section works with the sociological concept of the ‘new professionalism’ to situate the No Child Left Behind act, Race to the Top, and CAEP accreditation within a broader movement to align the professions with the commercial and managerial values of the private sector. The next section compares teacher interviews conducted at the onset of NCLB with interviews conducted at the height of Race to the Top to highlight how the ongoing shift from ‘occupational’ to ‘organizational’ governance of teaching can change how teachers think about and fashion themselves as teachers. This policy analysis and qualitative analysis aims to help the education field recognize, situate and interrupt education reforms that govern teaching and teacher education through standardization, commercialization and outcomes-based performance management.