Teacher Professionalism and Curriculum Control

Abstract

The professionalism of teachers and their control over the curriculum are often assumed to be closely linked to each other. In the English context, moreover, there have been frequent criticisms that the recent emergence of a prescriptive and centralized National Curriculum has undermined this supposedly intimate relationship. The present article seeks to examine such assumptions and criticisms by investigating the changing and contested nature of the relationship between ‘teacher professionalism’ and ‘curriculum control’.1 It will also highlight some of the concerns expressed by teachers in this regard as a result of recent curriculum initiatives undertaken by the British government, especially the National Curriculum, and will suggest a research agenda of related issues that deserve further and deeper consideration in the years ahead.