"Professionalism" is a contested notion. The general literature on this term has pointed out its complexities as both an occupational set of virtues and a political concept subject to social and power relations. In English language teaching (ELT), the term professionalism has also been viewed as being elusive and controversial. This…

This literature review begins by considering the concept of autonomy. The focus narrows to teacher autonomy specifically and a range of conceptualisations are summarised. Its influences and impact are discussed and the role which teacher autonomy plays in the wider issue of teacher professionalism is addressed. Central influences, including the UK…

The aim of this article is twofold. First, it is to advance the case for activity theory (AT) as a credible and alternative lens to view and research sports coaching. Second, it is to position this assertion within the wider debate about the epistemology of coaching. Following a framing introduction, a more comprehensive review of the development…

This article presents our narration of the emergence and development of a research area about the teaching and learning of the English language in Colombia and the creation of a research group named Critical Studies of Colombian Education Policies. The narration includes a description of the bilingual education policy in Colombia and a literature…

Two different strands of evidence coalesce to give rise to the issue of concern in this paper. Firstly, proposals for educational reform assert that teacher-agency is necessary for "effective" reform. Indeed it is argued that it is agency which drives the construction/reconstruction of professional knowledge, to influence and transform…

The purpose of this article is to describe the stances put forward by a selection of professional development resources interpreting the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) teachers, and to analyse where these resources stand in relation to research in ELA. Specifically, we analyse resources written by English educators…

Much is changing in preschool education. Current reform primarily emphasizes standardized practice, academic outcomes, and accountability. Little attention has been given to how these changes are impacting the well-being of teachers. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current literature on preschool teacher well-being and identify…

This review examines the literature related to leadership and the decentralized control of schools. It first considers the distinctive goals of public and private agencies, the specific constraints that shape the autonomy of leaders in different sectors, and the ways in which new models of public management are infusing public agencies with…

The belief that teachers are professionals has become so pervasive during the past one third century that it is increasingly viewed as a fact. This article reviews the 13 characteristics of a profession advanced by sociologists of occupations, and it provides evidence that teachers fall far short of achieving them. However, it is noteworthy that…

In the face of the century-old call for democracy in education by John Dewey, this paper explores how and why teachers have been systemically removed from efficacy within the educational system in which they live and work. The paper examines historical trends that work to limit teachers' institutional power and become obstacles to teacher voice.…

This paper outlines the main changes that have effected a transformation in the nature of academic work: on the one hand, the increasing diversification and specialisation of academic tasks, and on the other, new forms of control over academic work. An analysis of these trends leads to a discussion of the relationships between the evolution of…

Hierarchical educational structures employ a standards-driven decision-making atmosphere that challenges teachers' autonomy. This situation represents a critical issue for teacher educators who must consider how they will teach candidates to respond to these settings. We argue that teacher empowerment represents a moral issue that teacher…

Summarizes results of a study designed to identify organizational climate factors in Israel's 29 Bedouin Arab elementary schools and to explore their relation to certain teacher and school-level variables, including sex, educational level, tenure, teachers' origin, school type, and school size. The most important organizational climate factor was…

Shared governance empowers teachers to increase their autonomy and contributes to their role in determining school policy and influencing student outcomes. This paper, exploratory in nature, describes the policy impact of shared governance in nine autonomous schools where the participants at each site have provided some insight into policy issues.…

Research on university marketing structures suggests environments without unique market segments result in circular, multi-layered structures; marketing autonomy is directly related to resource control; communication and cooperation among organizational layers is inversely related to resource control; number of autonomous organizational layers is…