ERIC Number: EJ1033173
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0040-5841
EISSN: N/A
Neither Right nor Wrong: How a Teacher Integrates Her Personal and Professional Life with Policy
Bunten, Bridget A.
Theory Into Practice, v53 n3 p204-211 2014
This article focuses on the importance of recognizing and appreciating the ways that a teacher integrates her personal and professional life with an English-only policy. Much can be learned from the ways in which she negotiates social forces and integrates them into her individual reality while making sense of the restrictive language policy. Whether they are consciously aware of it or not, teachers have the power to make ethico-political choices. Motivated by moral principles and personal beliefs, teachers make decisions about their right or ability to determine and follow a particular course of action that a policy may dictate. Educational policies coming from the top-down can be daunting and leave teachers with a sense of a loss of control and power over what happens in their classrooms. However, I argue that teachers do have control over how they interpret the policy. There is no clear right or wrong path, but rather a multitude of diverse choices that are available to teachers.
Descriptors: Educational Policy, Compliance (Legal), Teacher Rights, Teacher Attitudes, Educational Practices, Decision Making, Language Teachers, Teaching Experience, Teacher Employment, Professional Autonomy, Teacher Characteristics, Individual Characteristics, Moral Values, Beliefs, Bilingual Teachers, Bilingualism
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A