| Abstract: |
Purpose: Together, the growing issues of teacher recruitment and retention and the post-pandemic landscape underscore a need to better understand the current state and potential impact teacher engagement and voice in policy at all levels. This paper features a subset of findings within a larger project examining the policy perceptions and opportunities to engage with policy of State Teachers of the Year [TOYs], which illuminate a paradox: Even if we give teachers the knowledge and necessary to engage with policy and a “seat at the table,” they may find their schools and classrooms inhabitable spaces for this work.
Theoretical Framework: Utilizing the perspectives and State TOYs and Anderson & Cohen (2018)’s framework for teachers as “democratic professionals,” this paper examines the conditions and contexts for policy engagement in which teachers currently exist and those necessary for teachers to engage with policy without stepping outside of their classroom role.
Methodological Approach: In this qualitative study, twenty-two semi-structured interviews with State and National TOY finalists from 2011 to 2019 were conducted and analyzed to better understand teacher perceptions of policy and the motivation for and impact of teacher policy (dis)engagement across their careers, before and after the elevation and opportunities associated with the award.
Results: Within this broader study, a few population-specific findings emerged about State TOYs that illuminate reasons why policy work and teachers’ work often do not feel like an intuitive pairing. Of the twenty State and National TOYs interviewed who received the award as K-12 teachers, less than half remained classroom teachers. Reasons cited for leaving the classroom included a sense of duty, within-school collegial conflict, and opportunities for greater compensation and influence.
This paper argues that when teachers are given the knowledge and skills necessary to engage with and a “seat at the table” to influence policy, as seen in the post-award opportunities of State and National TOYs, the current nature of teachers’ work and dominant school culture create tensions that push teachers who seek policy influence out of the classroom and into new roles. For some who attempt to straddle the worlds of policy and the classroom, the immense tension of limited individual capacity persists, beginning the question: Can policy work and teachers’ work ever coexist in harmony?
Significance: A wealth of research exists regarding teacher sensemaking and mediation of policy in their work, the role that school leaders and teacher preparation can play in this process, and even the discrepancies between policymaker and teachers understandings of opportunities for teacher policy engagement (Brezicha, Ikoma, Park, & LeTendre, 2019; Coburn, 2001; Coburn, 2006; Good, 2018). However, little is currently known about how teachers perceive their role in policy and how moments of policy engagement can impact their experiences as teachers, especially when looking beyond the school level. This study addresses this research gap by showing how teachers themselves perceive the potential and consequence of their own policy work from inside the classroom and the congruity—or, too often, the incongruity—of policy-oriented action outside it, in the name of it.
|