New Public Management and Its Effects in the Teaching Profession: Recent Trends in Spain and Catalonia

Abstract

Recent educational reforms and legislative changes in both Catalonia and Spain have been inspired by New Public Management (NPM). Accordingly, policy ideas such as school autonomy and accountability—including test-based accountability and the evaluation of teachers’ performance—have strongly framed the education policy debate, as well as tangible educational transformations at the school level. The objective of this chapter is two-fold. First, the chapter analyses how NPM and, with it, new forms of education evaluation and accountability have been adopted and tailored within the Spanish context, with a focus on the Catalan region. Second, the chapter analyses how accountability policies are contributing to reconfigure the teaching profession and teachers’ daily work in this region.