It’s all just a little bit of history repeating: 40 years of political review and reform in teacher education

There have been at least 100 governmental inquiries into teacher education in Australia since the 1970s, making thousands of recommendations, the majority of which have never been fully actioned or realised. Additionally, there is minimal evidence about the efficacy of this continuous review cycle. Here, we problematise these issues by conducting a comparative analysis of the Bassett report, Review of Teacher Education in Queensland, the first review of independent teacher education in Australia conducted in 1978, and the most recent review by the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group, Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers. Applying discourse analysis techniques associated with Foucauldian archaeology, findings reveal: a self-referential use of policy is accelerating; those involved are less likely to have knowledge of the discipline of education; similarities in the discourses despite the 40-year timeframe; and increased marginalisation of teacher educators. In the light of these findings, the authors highlight the need for teacher educators to be politically savvy about the mythologising and canonising of allowable problems in teacher education. Teacher educators need to challenge policy and enter the public sphere in doing so.