Abstract:
The recent reforms of education and training in Australia have had a significant impact on the institutional framing of teachers' work. The traditional public sector arrangements have been unpicked and rendered ambiguous by the advent of educational markets, decentralisation and increased technology applications. Yet in any assessment of change, it is also important to consider continuities with the past. This paper takes a look at educational continuities and changes in Victoria with a view of identifying the old and new stories of teachers work. This paper builds on a series of research projects in which I have been investigating the practical consequences of educational restructuring through the 1990s. Specific data are drawn from a small private training provider. My arguement is that, within innovative educational practices, there are old as well as new stories about teachers and their work. I document this and consider the implications for teachers and, more systematically, for education and training.