The choreography of accountability

Abstract

The prevailing performance discourse in education claims school improvements can be achieved through transparent accountability procedures. The article identifies how teachers generate performances of their work in order to satisfy accountability demands. By identifying sources of teachers' knowledge that produce choreographed performances, I explain how teachers manage perceptions in order to garner favorable evaluations. As forms of impression management, teachers' fabrications were political because they attempt to (re)control, or (re)claim, the discourse of what a 'good' teacher does/is. However, because teachers' fabrications occur as individual and uncoordinated responses to surveillance, the analysis maps how the political organization of schools maintains teachers in subjugated roles even though teachers believe their fabrications held greater micropolitical capital than what actually occurs.

Ley SEP en escuelas municipales emergentes: ¿cambios en la identidad docente?

“…Así, comienzan a construir "simulaciones pedagógicas", planificando y calculando acciones con el fin de satisfacer las demandas externas, ser evaluados positivamente y responder al creciente flujo de vigilancia al cual están expuestos, pero en lo sustantivo no modifican sus prácticas pedagógicas más allá de lo requerido por la evaluación (Ball, 2003;Case, Case & Catling, 2000, Taylor Webb, 2006.…”

Policy incentives in Canadian large-scale assessment: How policy levers influence teacher decisions about instructional change

“…For example, when social actors are aware of the metrics that have been devised to monitor their behaviour, they react in predictable ways to have the results show them in the best possible light (Abrams, 2004;Olah, Lawrence & Riggins, 2010;Webb, 2006). This is defined in this paper as 'reactivity' which is outlined in the theoretical framework section below.…”

“…Public service performance targets can also lead to gaming behaviours, as examined by Hood (2006) in the UK. Manipulation of metrics is 'the performance paradox' explained by Van Thiel and Leeuw (2002) or the 'choreographed performances' noted by Webb (2006). Whatever term is used, they are known to create distortions of reality when the performance metrics are known.…”

Teacher Professional Standards, Accountability, and Ideology: Alternative Discourses

“…This form of counter-resistance is, more often than not, a hidden element in teacher behaviour, as teachers quietly go about their day to day work and silently sabotage centralised efforts at reform (Tuinamuana 2007;Webb, 2006).…”