What Does It Mean To Be A Teacher In The 21st Century?

What does it mean to be a teacher in the 21st century?

Schoolteachers provide students with education and preparation for adulthood. However, what it means to be a teacher in the 21st century is rife with ambiguity. An analysis of educational artefacts will aid in answering this question. One is a system-level document titled Closing the Gap (Appendix A), while the other is a school-level document outlining the homework guidelines at Siena Catholic College (Appendix B). Discussion on these documents will relate to one of four educational discourses and the effects of policies on students, teachers and the schooling milieu. The four educational discourses include academic rationalism, social and economic efficiency, child centred learning,
This method of testing can be attributed to the academic rationalist educational discourse and can be detrimental to achieving the goals and ideals detailed throughout this document. ‘The potentially destructive affects of such data on school, teachers' and students' self-esteem was suggested as a real negative of NAPLAN for Indigenous students’ (Lingard, 2011, p. 230). Ironically, the use of these tests is in opposition to a discourse of social reconstruction, the discourse which underpins the entirety of Closing the Gap. ‘From a social constructivist perspective, five explanations for the literacy achievement gap appear plausible: linguistic differences, cultural differences, discrimination, inferior education, and rationales for schooling’ (Au, 1998, p. 297). Au’s last three explanations given are now in the process of rectification. However, English is a second language for many rural Indigenous students, giving them an immediate disadvantage in IQ and NAPLAN tests. Figueroa & Garcia (1994, p. 10) state that tests and testing need to be racially and culturally non-discriminatory and should be provided in the primary language. If NAPLAN is used to measure the gap in literacy and numeracy skills, an overwhelming burden will be placed on schoolteachers. Indigenous parents will be encouraged to speak in English to their children from birth in order to close the gap, eventually leading to the abolishment of their native language. Alternatively, NAPLAN tests can be available in the native language. In this scenario, schoolteachers will be required to learn the native language; otherwise large numbers of teachers who are proficient in the native language will need to be trained. Another educational discourse presented in this document is one of social and economic