Professional standards for teachers—what are they good for?

Abstract

This article reports on a study of teacher and principal attitudes to newly mandated teacher standards in Australia. The qualitative study of 36 teachers and principals was conducted over 12 months as the new educators in five schools completed a mandatory teacher probation process framed by the teacher standards. The study found positive attitudes to teacher standards from both teachers and principals. Contextual reasons, including teacher ownership over the standards and their implementation, are discussed as possible reasons for the positive manner in which the participants in the study received these new standards for teachers.