Repositioning the Field of Socio-Cultural Foundations under the Efficiency-Driven Reform in Teacher Education

Abstract

This article examines how qualification frameworks for Bachelor of Education and the Thai Teachers Council regulations on teaching professional standard affect the status of knowledge of socio-cultural foundations in teacher education institutions. The researcher used document analysis, in-depth interview and field observations with 7 teacher educators from 7 teacher education institutions. Findings indicate that socio-cultural foundations courses are still present in the teacher education program, and there is integration of the subject matters of philosophy and sociology of education. In addition, the everyday life discursive practices of teacher educators are the implementation of the teacher education curriculum reflecting negotiation, resistance, or articulation process between policy and practices. As a critical active agent in their own cultural politics, teacher educators are the most important actors influencing the status of knowledge of the field of socio-cultural foundations in teacher education institutions.