A critical exploration of Colombian teacher education from Freire’s ‘directivity’ perspective

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A critical exploration of Colombianteacher education from Freiresdirectivity perspectiveClara Ins Rubianoaa Faculty of Sciences and Education, Universidad Distrital FJC,Bogot, ColombiaPublished online: 20 Sep 2013.

To cite this article: Clara Ins Rubiano (2013) A critical exploration of Colombian teacher educationfrom Freires directivity perspective, Journal of Education for Teaching: International researchand pedagogy, 39:5, 574-589, DOI: 10.1080/02607476.2013.836341

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A critical exploration of Colombian teacher education fromFreires directivity perspective

Clara Ins Rubiano*

Faculty of Sciences and Education, Universidad Distrital FJC, Bogot, Colombia

(Received 10 October 2012; accepted 31 May 2013)

The paper presents an exploration of Colombian teacher education from PauloFreires directivity perspective, which involves the political notion of educationand the struggle for social justice. It examines certain existing tensions in teachereducation, and analyses critically their implications for the teaching professionregarding an alternative pedagogical framework and new approaches for theprofessional identity-formation toward teaching for social justice. The paper alsodiscusses the challenges for education research in Colombia, a country that bothdreams of education as the nations future and fights against its inherent sense ofadversity.

Keywords: teacher education; social justice; directivity of education; PauloFreire; Colombia

Introduction

In the last decades, teacher education has been involved in a process of globalchange, a transformation that embraces the contemporary views of education as afundamental issue for the future of nations. From an international perspective,teacher education has been analysing and discussing changes that have beenbrought partly by technological developments, partly by increased globalisation andpartly by changed demographics (Townsend 2011, 373). Whereas in many parts ofthe world, these changes have created all kinds of stresses on the system ofeducation (ibid.), a number of nations are reflecting on the effects of these changeson education and on teacher education (Apple 2011).

In South American nations, for instance, the teaching profession has experiencededucational reforms which have been subjected to political trends towardprivatisation and the abandonment of state responsibility for public education (Torres2008). As a result of such phenomena, teachers are clamouring for an educationalsovereignty that appreciates the democratising power of education (Puiggrs 2010)in a globalised world that has extended its domination through an ideology ofmodernisation, technological dominance and political economy (Freire in McLaren2002, 2).

This latter concern includes the complexities of teacher education as a major sitefor political debate and struggle (Furlong et al. 2000, 1), which thus opens thediscussion for critical reflection on the the political nature of education (Freire

*Email: [email protected]

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1998, 100). In this regard, the exploration of teacher education presented in thispaper is based on education as a specifically human action that has a directive voca-tion which addresses itself to dreams, ideas, utopias and objectives (ibid.). A num-ber of studies have explored teacher education using Freires ideas (see for e.g.Elbaz 1988; Fernandez-Balboa 1995; Stevens 2010). Of particular interest here isStevens use of Freires concept of critical pedagogy to critique the competencemodel of teacher education in England, since some of the issues he identifies interms of professionalism have relevance for this article, though he focuses onstudent teacher learning in the distinctive context of teacher education in England.The focus in this article is broader, since it attempts to develop a critical explorationof Colombian teacher education as rooted in the directivity of education (Freire inFigueiredo-Cowen and Gastaldo 1995), which involves the political nature of educa-tion as translated into the dream of education in Colombia. It is worth noting thatColombia has a tradition of internal conflicts resorting to violence related to disputesbetween liberal and conservative parties and fights for territorial control of drugproduction and trafficking since the nineteen century and probably before (Jaramilloand Mesa 2009).

The article develops a discussion on the existing tensions in Colombianeducation, whilst considering their implications for the teaching profession. This lastaspect provides insight for reflection on education research, particularly with regardto an alternative pedagogical framework and new approaches for professionalidentity-formation leading towards teaching for social justice.

This paper is written from the perspective of a teacher educator working for 15years in a Colombian university and with a strong interest in Freires inspirationalideas. In order to organise the debate, first, this paper presents a rationale for thecritical exploration in a particular socio-cultural context and justifies the reasonswhy Freires directivity of education resonates as a principle for critical reflection inColombian teacher education. Second, it analyses the historical and contemporarytensions in teacher education which typify the difficulties of the teaching profession.Third, it discusses the implications of these tensions for the teaching professionregarding an alternative pedagogical framework and new approaches for professionalidentity formation. Finally, it discusses the challenges for education researchconcerning a social-justice perspective in Colombian teacher education.

Rationale

In recent times, the process of globalisation has encouraged changes in educationalpolicies which subsequently have inevitably influenced the teaching professionacross the world. For example, initial teacher education has increasingly become anissue for political debate, given that people, governments and other agents attemptto change the form and content of initial training, thus aiming to influence the skills,knowledge and values of teachers (Ball 1998; Cochran-Smith 2011; Furlong et al.2000; Macbeath 2012).

Furthermore, approaches toward teacher education seem to be embedded in theimagination of governments that promote change in education policies, such thatthe current restructuring of education needs to be understood as part of a broadereconomic, political and cultural process of globalisation (Furlong et al. 2000, 167).In South American countries, for example, educational policies, emphasisingprivatisation in education as part of the turmoil of a neoliberal globalisation (Torres

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2008), have presented dilemmas for the teaching profession, in large part related tothe continued transformation of the public sector as affected by the underlyingforces of the labour market (ibid.).

Such transformation has been evident in Colombia where teacher education is onthe threshold of a major educational reform. This restructuring of The Law ofEducation (Ley 115 1994) abandons the idea of the State as guarantor of the right toquality education and introduces a new concept of education based on deregulation,flexibility and productivity of the workforce (Amaya de Ochoa 2011; Pinilla 2011).According to Pinilla (2011), this new concept of education promotes the training ofhuman capital, recognises the commoditisation of education, somehow favours theimpoverishment of the basic right for the citizens to education, and jeopardises thedream of education in which individuals construct their own meanings andlife-projects (ibid.).

Through such reform, teachers have been marginalised as key players in terms ofthe quality of education, the qualification and dignity of the profession, the improve-ment of teacher well-being, and the processes and quality targets within educationalinstitutions (Amaya de Ochoa 2011). From the above scenario, this paper statesthree questions to guide the critical exploration of Colombian teacher education:

(1) What are the historical and contemporary tensions in the Colombianapproach to teacher education?

(2) What are the implications of these tensions for the teaching profession?(3) What are the challenges for education research regarding alternative peda-

gogical frameworks and new approaches for professional identity formationin teacher education?

The Colombian socio-cultural context

As in other Latin American countries, Colombian teacher education has beenaddressing educational reforms within the framework of the dynamics of globalchange and the complexities of a particular socio-cultural context. These complexi-ties are associated with the educators social function in society (Calvo, Rendon, andRojas 2004) and with factors translated directly into increased concerns for the secu-rity of teachers (EI 2011; Wallace 2011). In the former, Calvo, Rendon, and Rojas(2004) argue that the social function of educators has been linked to the responsibil-ity for building a nation in which the teaching profession has confronted diversehistorical periods, from the disbanding of their social function with the clericalstratum, to their institutionalisation and recognition by the State regarding theirwell-being, work, compensation and work conditions. In the latter, Wallace states(2011, 1) that:

the key problem is that teachers, as part of their work, have to interpret the reality ofthe environment where they and their pupils live; for example, there are cases in whichstudents are told and convinced by external voices to join the ranks of the armedgroups (guerrilla groups) and the teachers are guiding them not to do that.

Such a situation has made teachers increasingly vulnerable, and in manycircumstances they have been threatened or killed (EI 2011).

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Moreover, Colombian teachers are coping with issues that affect the reputationof their profession. These include the change in the social composition of the teachercommunity, because mainly young people with low state test results are enteringinitial teacher-education programmes (Calvo 2007), the insufficient cultural basis,low literacy levels and inadequate mastery of technology, all of which are tangibleliabilities for in-service teachers (ibid.). These concerns threaten the reputation ofthe profession because on the one hand, they reinforce the assumption that teachersqualifications in Latin America fall short of what is needed to implement and sustainthe education reforms under way in most countries (Navarro and Verdisco 2000, 1).On the other hand, they risk denying the practice of integrated education (Pinilla2011) understood as the social participation in the elaboration of public policies formajor national issues, including education (Cajiao 2004).

These complexities, rather than discouraging educators, encourage them to fightagainst discrimination and adversity. Educators awareness of the participation andresponsibilities of the teaching profession regarding educational reforms (Calvo2009) inspires them to oppose the obedience model of professionalism (Stevens2010, 189) which urges teachers to internalise the routines and learn the contentthey are to teach, their ability to cope is assured and with it the need to grow asteachers diminishes (Eisner 1998, 115 in Stevens 2010). Instead, teachersunderstanding of the socio-cultural context motivates them to opt for the dream ofeducation that Colombian society needs (Amaya de Ochoa 2011).

All these issues constitute tremendous insights and opportunities for teachereducation to reflect critically on the dream of education in Colombia from a socialjustice or good and just teaching perspectives (Cochran-Smith et al. 2009, 347).This process of critical reflection requires teacher educators motivation, vocationand unconditional love for their profession; in other words, their directivity ofeducation (Freire in Figueiredo-Cowen and Gastaldo 1995, 18) understood as apedagogical ideal from which to navigate the teaching profession as a whole.

Freires directivity of education

From Freires perspective, the directive of education addresses itself to dreams,ideas, utopias and objectives, encompassing the political nature of education (Freire1998):

The directivity of education means that education starts from a given level and goesbeyond itself. It also means that education has always implicit utopias, dreams, desiresand values. I cannot simply say: I educate for nothing. Teachers insist on being teach-ers, this means they have a kind of dream. (Freire in Figueiredo-Cowen and Gastaldo1995, 18)

This notion of directivity in education may be perceived when teachers are askedabout their motivation for undertaking teaching. For instance, in a study carried outin the UK, which focused on initial teacher training programmes, a high percentageof student teachers reported that teaching was very attractive to them because theycould help people to learn and because they could make the difference (Hobson,Malderez, and Tracey 2009, 16). These statements can be interpreted as studentteachers dreams or objectives in teaching. Freire expresses this idea through anexample:


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For example, I can have a dream for me very ugly of maintaining the status quo ofsociety as it is now. It is a right which we have, the right of loving the stability of thesociety. As with any other Brazilian, it would be perfect for me to say: I am happywith the social situation of my country; with the number of people who cannot eatevery day. I then would work through a kind of educational practice in which I wouldtry to maintain this situation with no attempt to unveil the reality. What is impossibleis to be neutral. (Freire ibid., 19)

Freire states that when teachers seek to accomplish their dream of contributing tochange the world, they have to take charge of their praxis in a much clearer way,and then, they become more and more competent in order to do what they dream todo (Figueiredo-Cowen and Gastaldo 1995).

Freire also points out that educators should be encouraged to recognise and linkthe moral, ethical and political dimensions of education to their daily teaching andlearning practices in the classrooms (Schugurensky 2011). From Freires point ofview, directivity of education can be used to empower educators to analyse, tocompare, to evaluate, to decide, to opt, to break with, to be just, to have a politicalpresence and all that means being ethical (Freire 1998, 90). This means that thedirectivity in education may be associated with the impossibility of having aneutral stance toward the social situation in Colombia.

On the other hand, it may be related to the dream of education as the beginning,the hope and the arrival-point of every struggle for social justice and equality(Gentili 2009, 47). These complementary perspectives serve as the basis from whichto describe the historical tensions in Colombian teacher education.

Historical and contemporary opressive tensions

As in other countries, in Latin America and the Caribbean, the tensions inColombian teacher education typify the difficulties of the teaching profession as anintricate occupational group working in a contested field. It could be argued thatthese tensions denote the complexity and deep roots of the issues influencing theteacher profession which according to Cochran-Smith (2004), can identified as oldand new tensions in teacher education:

They are new in that they are woven into the tapestry of changed and changing politi-cal, social and economic times and thus have a different set of implications each timethey reemerge in prominence. But they are also old in that they represent enduring anddeep disagreements in society about the purposes of schooling, the value of teachingand the preparation of teachers. (Cochran-Smith 2004, 10)

In a study conducted in ten countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region,including Colombia, the old tensions in teacher education affecting the preparationof teachers are summarised under five main concerns (Cuenca 2005, 5); Accordingto Cuenca (2005), the first concern is about the low academic and socio-economicprofiles in pre-service teachers. He indicates that there are reports that demonstratethat the students with low academic achievements and low socio-economic back-grounds coming from high schools and who enrol teacher education programmes,affect directly the quality standards of teacher education and counterbalance thestatus of the teaching profession (ibid., 5). The second concern refers to theuniversity versus non-university based teacher training. Cuenca (2005, 6) argues that

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there is a historical tendency to locate teacher education programmes in universities,but recently, schools of education have been criticised for being too theoretical andunrealistic in regard to daily practices in classrooms.

The third issue is about the conviction that teacher professional development is akind of remedy (ibid.). Cuenca (2005, 6) explains that in-service teachers receiveteacher education to address perceived deficiencies from their pre-service educationand the constant changes in educational policies. The fourth concern focuses on themodalities of teacher education offered by educational institutions as opposed to theMinistry and Secretaries of Education providing in-service teacher training (ibid., 7).Cuenca (2005) points out that there is a discussion about the professional develop-ment provided by universities and the teacher training (sic) delivered by a numberof for-profit educational organisations or agencies. The last tension is about the bud-get allocation for teacher education. Cuenca (2005, 7) states that the funding forteacher education comes mainly from the state and that existing reports prove that,unfortunately, the amounts of money assigned to teacher education are lower thanthose allocated to other items or areas in the education sector.

Whereas, these concerns represent existing disagreements about the purpose andthe preparation of teachers in the Colombian society, there are new tensions inColombian teacher education that have arisen from educational reforms. In otherparts of the world, these reforms have incorporated the growth of a complex globa-lised economy in terms of standards-based movements, movement toward greateraccountability, initiatives to privatise education and the push toward market-basedapproaches (Cochran-Smith 2004). In the Colombian context, these reforms seem tobe related to local and global change in the broader process of globalisation orwesternisation, which is the transfer of tendencies toward privatisation from thehighly-industrialised nations to the newly-industrialised and developing world (Balland Youdell 2007, 37).

On the one hand, the implementation of these policies might be seen as creatingnew tensions that come into life under the themes of accountability, universitisa-tion, rationalisation, professionalisation and partnership. In their analysis ofchange in teacher education, Menter, Brisard and Smith (2006, 19) argue that suchthemes are indicators, that can be used to assess the patterns of change in policytrajectories in the field. Following their analytical themes, Table 1 (below) summa-rises the educational/political initiatives influencing teacher education in Colombiain recent decades.

On the other hand, discourses and practices associated with rationalisation andaccountability in teacher education are sometimes portrayed as oppressive and lead-ing to the de-professionalisation of teachers in other countries (see e.g. Mahony andHextall 1998). But from the context of a Latin American nation, it might also beargued that these policy initiatives have given strength to Colombian teacher educa-tion, particularly in relation to the construction of knowledge-driven societies (WorldBank 2002), by encouraging reforms of teacher training leading to better teachersand the improved preparation of students as citizens for societal change and devel-opment (UNESCO 2009). A strong counter argument here, however, with particularrelevance to Colombia, is that the reforms have also promoted elements of discrimi-nation towards the teaching profession. This is not least because these politicaldeclarations seem to carry statements of domination related to political, social andeconomic change which adversely affect the teaching profession (Freire 1998).Perceived through the lens of directivity of education, the new tensions in teacher


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education may be unveiled by analysing any dynamic of power embedded in suchtheoretical propositions. From this perspective, which empowers teachers to have apolitical presence (Freire 1998, 90), it is important to have a critical explorationfocused on the various features of oppression (Adams, Bell, and Griffing 2007)which serve to enhance understanding of any kind of bias or discrimination towardsthe teaching profession in general, as outlined below.

Pervasive oppression

This feature of oppression refers to a bias that emphasises the pervasive nature ofsocial inequality woven through social institutions as well as embedded withinindividuals consciousness (Adams, Bell, and Griffing 2007, 5) and can be

Table 1. Educational/political initiatives influencing teacher education in Colombia.

Accountability* Accreditation requirements for all teacher-training programmes inHigher Education institutions and in Superior Normal Schools (Ley115, Article 113, 1994).Evaluation and assessment processes for the quality of the provisionbased on students performance standards (ibid. Articles, 80, 81) andon teachers professional performance (Decree 3782 2007)Accreditation requirements based on extension, quality and efficiencyof the service, job relevance, technical training and scientific research(MEN 2002).

Universitisation* Universities, and other higher education institutions, with schools ofeducations or other academic units dedicated to education areconsidered the only teacher education providers; however, superiornormal schools, as academic support units for initial teacher training,are authorised to train teachers for the preschool and primary basiceducation cycle in agreement with universities (Ley 115, Article 1121994).

Rationalisation* Government budget allocation based on: Recruitment procedures in the teaching profession (Decree 3982

2006). Teachers annual job performance evaluation processes based on

efficiency and quality standards of the service (Decree 37822007).

Teachers professional performance based on competences testsand salary adjustment according to results (Decree 2715 2009).

Professionalisation* The educator is the students learning facilitator in educationalinstitutions according to social, cultural, ethical and moral expectationsof the family and society (Ley 115, Article 104 1994).Teacher education is aimed at: (a) training teachers with the highestethical and scientific quality; (b) developing educational theory andpractice as a fundamental part of the educator knowledge; (c)strengthening research in teaching and specific knowledge and (d)preparing educators for the different forms of educational services atthe undergraduate and graduate levels (ibid. Article 109).Regulation of recruitment, retention, promotion, compensation andretirement in the teaching profession (Decree 1278 2002).

Partnership* Participation of joint-economy higher-education institutions (Ley 115,Article 96, 1994) and involvement of philanthropic foundations asproviders of teacher-training services (MEN 2002).

*Indicators to assess the patterns of change in policy trajectories (Menter, Brisard, and Smith 2006, 79).

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identified in the General Law of Education (Ley 115 1994). This policy regulatededucation as a service, so ignoring it as a fundamental right (Cajiao 2004, 40).According to Cajiao (2004), this political initiative was originated by the NationalConstitutional Assembly and represented an enormous effort to create a new socialpact amidst profound social and political crisis (ibid.). This bias could have emergedfrom the different interpretations given to the value of education in the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights may suggest a value to education whichgives it capacity to generate wealth, so this has created a binomial of opposite goals,one related to a socialising and another to a privatising conception of education. So,while there are those who assume the defence and construction of education as a rightof humanity, there are others for whom the meaning of education is stated in theeconomic benefits that it can produce. (Gentili 2009, 20).

This focus on the economic benefits of education seems to emphasise thesurvivalism (Ball and Youdell 2007) of institutions whilst diminishing the dreamof education for social justice and equity.

Hierarchical oppression

Hierarchical oppression relates to a hierarchical relationship in which dominant orprivileged groups reap advantage from the disempowerment of targeted groups(Adams, Bell, and Griffing 2007, 5). The hierarchical relationship between theColombian State and the professionalism of its teachers may be seen as an exampleof this kind of oppression.

The professionalisation of Colombian teacher education has been constructedby decree from above (Evetts 2009). It has been the main organising principle forthe public service of education through the implementation of legal forms ofauthority, increased standardisation of work procedures and practices, regulation andaccountability measures (ibid. e.g. Decree 1278 2002; Decree 2715 2009; Decree3782 2007), trends that are also seen in other parts of the world, as mentionedearlier in this paper.

Such an emphasis on teacher standards places teachers as objects formeasurement (Sachs 2005, 2) and denotes a dominant external force in the teachingprofession, which ultimately leads to the disempowerment of teachers who wish toco-create a shared identity working towards an equitable Colombian society.

Internalised oppression

Adams, Bell and Griffing analysis (2007, 5) states that internalised oppression notonly resides in external social institutions and norms but lodges in the human psycheas well. This bias appears to be evident when Alvaro Uribe, the precedingColombian President, stated the purpose of the Educational Revolution (MEN 2002)as follows:

I put forward a State with democratic security to protect teachers life and dignity. I willcall up the national and international community so that our teachers are not murdered.

This political initiative (MEN 2002) has masked the introduction of the wholesalereform of the education system and has been characterised by a market-driven


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approach to education, with expectations that teachers produce high performativity(Pinilla 2011). From the directivity in educations perspective, Uribes statementabout protecting teachers right is seemingly beneficial and protective; but it mayalso be read as deeply ironic for those teachers who have challenged a status quoassociated with assumptions of instability or chaos in the teaching profession.

This assumption allows the Colombian government, qua the dominant group,to justify the introduction of the massive technological training of tutors and theinvolvement of philanthropic services in order to achieve the reform of teachereducation (MEN 2002). Such an assumption affects still further the reputation of theteaching profession and diminishes teachers sense of humanisation througheducation by defining the future of the profession collectively (Freire in Schuguren-sky 2011).

Following on from the arguments above, it could be argued that power relationsin regard to local and global changes in educational-policy reforms subsume thenew tensions in Colombian teacher education. These factors can be summarisedas:

(1) The pervasive domination of the economic benefits of education, is at oddswith teachers dreams of education for social justice.

(2) Hierarchical professionalism, promoted by government decree, as with thedisempowerment of teachers as objects of history (Freire 1998), is at oddswith teachers creating a sense of their own identity.

(3) The internalised sense of chaos or instability in the teaching profession(Pinilla 2011) is at odds with teachers wish to humanise education (Freire1998).

The existences of these contemporary tensions have the potential to impact insignificant ways on the teaching profession.

Implications for the teaching profession

The contemporary tensions in Colombian teacher education provide an importantframework for critical reflection because they incorporate issues of equity andsocial justice into teaching, thinking and practice (Howard 2003, 195). From thisconsideration, the first questions for reflection would be:

(1) To what extent can the Colombian approach toward teacher education dealwith the many issues of equity and social justice related to themes ofsurvivalism in the teaching profession as a whole?

(2) To what extent can Colombian teachers sense of disempowerment and theprevailing sense of chaos and instability inherent to their practice beaddressed within the teaching profession as a whole?

One possible way to address these two questions would be through remainingcommitted to, as Freire criticises, the dream of maintaining the status quo of societyas it is now (Figueiredo-Cowen and Gastaldo 1995, 19), understood as consideringthe Colombian teaching profession within the context of the economic benefits ofeducation and an imposed professionalism. Another way would be through

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clarifying our dreams and being certain about how to put them into action (ibid.).This presupposes viewing teacher education as an arena of hope and struggle hope for a better life and struggle over how to understand, enact and achieve thatbetter life (Ayers, Hunt, and Quinn 1998). Adherence to such a view mayencourage professionals committed to teacher education to reflect on the formationof a culturally-relevant teaching paradigm (Howard 2003), one that calls forconsideration of two critical questions:

(1) What kind of alternative pedagogical framework can teacher education useto create understandings about resisting the survivalism ethos in the teach-ing profession, the sense of teacher disempowerment as objects of history,and the inherent sense of instability or chaos in the teaching profession as awhole?

(2) What kind of approach can teacher education advocate in regard to theformation of a professional identity within a country where educationrepresents hope for creating a more equitable society?

An alternative pedagogical framework

Bearing in mind that the teaching profession from Freires directivity perspectiveof education offers hope for social justice and equity, and recognising teacher educa-tors as crucial role-models for the actual practice of the profession (Loughran 2006),it could be argued that such role-models are essential to reconceptualising the wayin which new teachers are prepared and to providing them with the knowledge(Howard 2003, 195) to transform their world through their commitment to socialjustice. In this way, teacher educators would be involved in a process of reconceptu-alising such knowledge which implies: thinking critically about theory and practice(Fox, Martin, and Green 2007, 25); thinking critically about practice in relation toresearch ideas (ibid.); considering how to articulate this knowledge of practice(Loughran 2006, 65); and considering how to articulate this knowledge in, andthrough, teaching about teaching which would then constitute a way of conceptualis-ing a pedagogy of teacher education (ibid., 71).

Moves toward such a conceptualisation would mean that Colombian teachereducators would think critically about theory and practice associated with thenotion of a theory-practice gap (ibid., 63). This last would be approached throughthe construction of epistemic and phronesis knowledge (Kessels and Kothagen2000 in Loughran 2006) regarding teaching for social justice. In the process ofteaching about teaching, in which the roles of epistemic and phronesis knowledgerequire expertise, teacher educators may be involved in thinking critically aboutresearch ideas that may articulate knowledge of their practice (their phronesis)around the themes of programme principles, paradox, tensions and axioms(Loughran 2006), and ultimately about social justice and equity.

Such a process of critical reflection may guide teacher educators towardconceptualising professional knowledge in order to articulate a specific conceptionof social justice (Zeichner 2009, 25). In this way, teacher education may serve toestablish a collective transformative action for more democratic, just, and happiersocieties (Freire in Schugurensky 2011).


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Professional identity formation

The relevance of professional identity formation in teacher education has been notedby Brown (1938 in Zeichner 2009, 24) in his argument that we should:

prepare individuals to understand the social, economic and political problems withwhich this country is faced, who are zealous in the improvement of present conditionsand who are capable of educating citizens disposed to study problems earnestly, thinkcritically about them, and act in accord with their noblest impulses.

This is to suggest an alternative teaching paradigm that enables teacher educators toprepare Colombian pre-service teachers to understand the social, economic andpolitical problems that Colombian teacher education faces on a daily basis. Such anapproach immediately raises the question: Can teacher education contribute to thedevelopment of the professional identity of teachers?

It would also be useful to explore this issue from the critical perspective ofpractical knowledge, one that recognises an inherent dialectic in teaching and learn-ing (Hoveit and Hoveit 2008). In this approach, the idea of self-concept isaddressed and can be defined as an organised summary of information, rooted inobservable facts concerning oneself, which includes such aspects as traits of charac-ter, values, social roles, interests, physical characteristics and personal history(Bergner and Holmes 2000 in Korthagen 2004, 83).

The notion of a self concept that looks at teachers identity would include theteachers individuality and the teacher as an agent of an educational institution(Hoveit and Hoveit 2008). Most importantly it can be used as a core theme forreflection in terms of challenging existing tensions in Colombian teacher educationand promoting this approach for the critical reflection towards professional identityformation may prevent teacher educators incorporating a prescriptive tone to theirunderstanding of social justice and equity (Jackson 2008). It would also inspireteacher educators to overcome the major problem of teachers self-concepts that areextremely resistant to change (Korthagen 2004, 83).

This self-concept approach would support Colombian teacher education toconceptualise teacher identity-formation through opening up a dialogical relation-ship in which curiosity and unfinishedness within the on-going current of historyexists (Freire 1998). In other words, a dialogical approach to conceptualising teacheridentity may allow teacher education to describe how teachers develop themselvesthrough time and how differently they position themselves in various situations, andtoward others (Akkerman and Meijer 2011). This dialectical approach to profes-sional identity-formation might well inspire Colombian teacher education to promotedialectical encounters in which prospective teachers reflect on their own professionalidentity in two ways: through enhancing their epistemological curiosity andthrough exploring their own directivity of education.

In the former means of reflection, which is defined as readiness and eagernessof a conscious body that is open to the task of engaging an object of knowledge(Freire and Macedo 2005, 54), pre-service teachers would gain a rigorousunderstanding of their historical location so they can turn this understanding intoknowledge (ibid.).

In the latter means of reflection, prospective teachers would be immersed in acollective process of transformation that encompasses three aspects: (a) the recogni-tion of the power dynamics and ideological struggles related to the social forces

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opposing and supporting change (i.e. politics); (b) the main social activity to movetowards transformation (i.e. education); and (c) the direction of the transformativeproject, (i.e. humanisation) (Freire in Schugurensky 2011).

In sum, this paper argues that a process of critical reflection would benefitColombian teacher education in conceptualising professional knowledge. Thisconceptualisation would create an alternative pedagogical framework that wouldcontribute to the development of a professional identity focused on teaching forsocial justice and equity.

Challenges for education research

The tensions identified earlier as existing in Colombian teacher education constitutethe basis for critical reflection in which teacher educators as responsible foreducation research face the challenges for social justice (Calvo 2009). The processof critical reflection in Colombia, and arguably elsewhere, embodies the search forthe ways in which to conceptualise professional knowledge as a key element ofteaching for social justice and equity. This approach requires organising alternativepremises for education research that may empower teacher educators to develop apolitical presence that serves to challenge the westernisation influences that seemto have stimulated the spread of a culture of competition, production and manageri-alist control of research practices. In this way, education research would encourageteacher educators to embrace the commitment to social justice which requires amoral and ethical attitude towards equality and a belief in the capacity of people asagents of change who can act to transform their world (Freire in Adams, Bell, andGriffing 2007, 13).

Educational research practices should inspire teacher educators to resist thedominant performance-based and evaluation-based culture of learning, and learningabout teaching. At the same time, educational research would attempt to understandthat teaching is learning and learning is teaching in which the teaching space is atext that has to be constantly read, interpreted, written and rewritten (Freire 1998,89). Research practices conceived in this way would motivate teacher educators toresist the oppression of developing research as merely a statutory requirement(Calvo 2009). On the contrary, educational researchers should develop research prac-tices that embrace Research (with a capital R), understood as the generation ofnew forms of knowledge about education, leading to the construction of knowledgethat becomes an important signifier in the academic world (Murray, Czerniawski,and Barber 2011).

These alternative considerations would inspire Colombian teacher education toextend its natural capacity to produce knowledge about its social, cultural, politicand economic problems (Henao 2006). In addition, education research under the ear-lier premises would strengthen teachers directivity of education in order to pro-mote social justice, both within the teaching profession itself and in the overallsocial-cultural context.

Conclusions

In Colombia, as in other Latin American countries, teacher education inevitablysustains various tensions that present significant challenges. These include the lowacademic and socio-economic profiles typically found in pre-service teachers, issues


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in relation to the quality, standards and the status of teachers, deficiencies in termsof professional development provision and the relatively poor budget allocationdevoted to the teaching profession overall (Cuenca 2005).

Aside from these difficulties, the teaching profession endures the three newtensions identified p[previously resulting from educational reforms that emphasiseprivatisation and liberalising values or a commitment to traditional values and themaintenance of social order (Calvo, Rendon, and Rojas 2004). These historical andcontemporary tensions in Colombian teacher education may well encourage theteaching profession to develop a challenging process of critical reflection in whichFreires notion of directivity of education becomes a vital guiding principletowards conceptualising professional knowledge in regard to social justice andequity.

Freires directivity of education is an inspirational idea that can help educators toarticulate critical thinking coming from a transformative action into insights in tea-cher education. Reinventing Freires ideas, respectfully and creatively, can make animportant contribution to the collective efforts around the world for a moredemocratic education and a more democratic society that has freedom and equalityat its core (Schugurensky 2011, 212). Such a consideration entails a collectivecommitment to resisting different features of bias, discrimination or oppression inand of the teaching profession as well as organising alternative possibilities foreducation research. From this perspective, it makes sense to be immersed in aprocess of transformation that acknowledges Paulo Freires legacy to those whodare to teach:

What can I do? Whether they call me teacher, I am still underpaid, disregarded, anduncared for. Well so be it. In reality, this is the most convenient position, but it is alsothe position of someone who quits the struggle, who quits history. It is the position ofthose who renounce conflict, the lack of which undermines the dignity of life. Theremay not be life or human experience without struggle and conflict. Denying conflict,we ignore even the most mundane aspects of our vital and social experience. Trying toescape conflict, we preserve the status quo. (Freire 2008, 212)

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Professor Jean Murray for her helpful suggestions, invaluablesupport and encouragement to achieve this goal.

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Abstract Introduction Rationale The Colombian socio-cultural context Freire`s directivity of education Historical and contemporary opressive tensions Pervasive oppression Hierarchical oppression Internalised oppression

Implications for the teaching profession An alternative pedagogical framework Professional identity formation

Challenges for education research Conclusions AcknowledgmentsReferences