AUTHOR=Bullough Robert V. TITLE=What Do We Mean by “Reform?”: On the Seductiveness of Reform in Teaching and Teacher Education and It's Mischievous Influences JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education VOLUME=5 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.620726 DOI=10.3389/feduc.2020.620726 ISSN=2504-284X ABSTRACT=

Drawing on literary critic Kenneth Burke's concept of “terministic screens,” the author explores some of the history and a few of the troubling implications for the work of teachers and teacher educators that flow from the idea of reform. Concluding that “reform is a bad idea,” the author argues for an alternative conception of educational improvement, one that is more life-affirming and hopeful. Seeking to weaken the conceptual and ethical hold of reform on policy-makers and educators, the author argues with John Goodlad that educational improvement first and foremost must be understood as a learning problem, an issue of educational renewal.