Teachers in the Schoolhouse Panopticon

Abstract

This article illustrates how educational reforms subordinate elementary school teachers and reduce their opportunities for professionalism. Reflecting Foucault's image and discussion of the panopticon, educational administration and the public participate in monitoring teachers' practices, leaving teachers in an untenable position for professional autonomy and therefore opportunities to become professionals. In addition, teachers themselves are complicit in their own subordination and are left with limited opportunities for resistance. Qualitative data of new and veteran New York City schoolteachers provide the basis for the study; the current climate of accountability provides the backdrop for the discussion.