Activity 1: Politics with a capital ‘P’
As Babbie (2008) pointed out education research will continue regardless of ‘politics’ ‘science proceeds in the midst of political controversy and hostility’ (p. 87) however it still has a major influence. Politicians of course are concerned about remaining elected and keeping the public happy, if they want to start an ‘education revolution’ in order to do this, they are going to want research and results to support their policies. ‘Teachers as professionals’ and ‘the credibility of curriculum and pedagogy’ are always hot topics. The media often reports how BAD we are doing and rarely paints Australia’s education system in a good light. Politicians are there to offer a ‘quick fix’.
This however all seems to happen at a systems level. I believe the feeling of many teachers is that ‘I’ll just keep teaching, what I know works, in a way that I’m comfortable with, no matter what’s going on ‘above me’.’ This however, is just my own assumption, not based on any research, but simple observations of discussions in school staff rooms. The lack of consistency in expectations from a systems level can be frustrating; this is essentially based on a three year turn around, that of one political term. This in itself is an indicator of the political influence on education and educational research.
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