Theorising teacher performance dispositions in an age of audit

This paper provides a critical and theoretical exploration into teacher performance dispositions (orientations towards performance). The paper explores research literature on dispositions highlighting the representation of teachers in education policy and standards documents across several nations of the OECD; Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. The paper draws on aspects connected to the Bourdieuian conception of dispositions arguing that economic imperatives continue to drive research and policy directions of teacher performance shaping teaching practice/s distorting the educative process. The paper suggests that the work of teachers is increasingly being re-positioned towards narrow conceptions of pedagogy and performance aligning the educative experience with the ability to compete in the knowledge economy. Developments of this kind commodify knowledge which may have implications for what it means to be educated or to educate. The research in focusing on teacher performance dispositions reminds teachers and policy-makers about the moral and ethical importance of a person-centred education policy approach. Such an approach eschews prescribed curricula and standardized learning opting instead for the professional judgement of teachers in crafting studies with educative potential tailored to individual student need.