A Critical Examination of the Conception of Teacher Professionalism Enacted in Current Teacher Education Policy in Flanders (Belgium)

Abstract

This chapter describes and problematises the conception of teacher professionalism enacted in current teacher education policy in Flanders (Belgium). The entry point for the analysis is the Decree on teacher education of 2018 and its surrounding policy measures which not only resulted in a large restructuring of the landscape for initial teacher education in Flanders, but also articulate a particular normative discourse about what it means to be and become a teacher today. After a brief contextualisation of the Decree in the policy measures that have preceded it, we (re)construct the particular discourse of teacher professionalism enacted in current policy legislation in three key premises: professionalism is a quality acquired, possessed and performed by individual teachers; professionalism is knowing and performing ‘what works’; and professionalism can be mapped and checked. The chapter concludes with drawing critical attention to the implication of this discourse by pointing out two blind spots. In framing teacher professionalism as an individual possession, policy highlights for our attention individual knowledge, skills and attitudes, but risks minimising the importance of contextual factors in understanding ‘success’ or ‘failure’ in teaching. The assumption of professionalism as a technical quality emphasizes questions about ‘what works/does not work’, but deflects attention away from the more fundamental normative question ‘what it should work for’ that teachers grapple with in their practice.