A mandatory, high-stakes National Teacher Evaluation System: Perceptions and attributions of teachers who actively refuse to participate

Abstract

This study examines why some public elementary school teachers openly refuse participation in a mandatory national, standards-based teacher evaluation program. We describe the perceptions these “rebel” teachers have of the evaluation system, studying their open resistance based on the meanings they construct, and elaborated an explanatory model for their behaviour. In-depth interviews with nine teachers were analyzed using Grounded Theory. Findings indicate that there are several factors related to teachers’ refusal, among them teachers’ perceived lack of legitimacy of the evaluation system, their negative emotions, including fear of results, and characteristics of the culture of the teaching profession in Chile.