We are worried that the way in which the TEMAG recommendations may be
taken up, and the standards that they may impose, will lead to a very narrow view of
what constitutes the‘ideal teacher’. This is not to say that we are opposed to
standards: depending upon the standard, they can play a role in ensuring that teacher
education is valued within universities and that teaching is regarded as a high status
occupation (Reid and Brennan 2013 ). What we are concerned about is standardis-
ation. The tone of the government’s response to the report, the report itself and the
broader set of discourses about teachers’work and teacher education all appear to
work with antiquated notions of the teacher as craftsperson (see Hoskins and
Maguire 2013 , for critique). Whilst there are clear elements of‘craft’, if teaching is
to be regarded as a profession and activity that has major responsibilities for the
cohesiveness and inclusiveness of society as well as its economic prosperity, then
attention has to be paid to what constitutes teachers as intellectual workers. We argue
in this chapter that an important aspect of this construction of a teacher is someone
who is‘research literate’, that is, is a competent consumer of research who is also
able to undertake and utilise their own research (BERA/RSA 2014 ).
This chapter then provides an analysis of the TEMAG report with a particular
focus on the constructions of‘research’within the document and the ways in which
such constructions align with its notion of‘classroom readiness’. In the chapter, we
argue that in terms of research, the TEMAG report has a focus on‘research as
evaluation’. For example, within the report it is noted that‘there is a lack of
research into the effectiveness of initial teacher education in Australia’and argued
that there should be‘a national focus on research into teacher education, including
into the effectiveness of teacher preparation and the promotion of innovative
practice’and that teacher education providers should be expected to demonstrate
‘better evidence of effectiveness’. There is also a use of‘research as justification’
for programme content. For example, the report authors claim that‘the theory,
methods and practices taught to pre-service teachers need to be clearly based on
evidence linked to impact on student learning outcomes’and that programmes
should be based on‘solid research evidence’. Within the report there is a virtual
silence about‘teacher as researcher’except where the ability to undertake research
is interpreted as‘data literacy’. In exploring the notion of‘classroom readiness’,we
argue that such readiness requires teachers to have an understanding of what
constitutes‘educational research’and an ability to undertake this type of research,
where educational research refers to research that makes a difference (see Furlong
2013 ). In this regard, we are very much in support of the work conducted by BERA
and the RSA in the UK that argues for the need for teachers to be‘research literate’.
43.2 Context
Whilst not wishing to provide a detailed history of the Australian education system,
some points of note need to be outlined. Australia is a federation of States and
Territories, and education is constitutionally the responsibility of these jurisdictions.
638 M. Mills and M. Goos