Finding a Fit: Identity, Regulations, and Education in Australia’s Knowledge Society

This paper explores a dual need for those who commence a journey into the professional world of a teacher—that of one’s own “individualization” (Beck 2002) and the emergent and regulatory performance assessments as outlined by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). Embarking on this journey, preservice teachers must integrate their background, culture, personal philosophy, and demonstrated practices in compliance with a recently introduced “common” curriculum and regulatory teacher standards across Australia. Informed by Ulrich Beck’s work on risk societies (1992) the research will explore cultural and individual uncertainties for students undertaking teacher education courses. Increased mobility in today’s globalised economies has resulted in increased responsibility for individuals actively shaping and organising their own biographies. In contrast, Australia’s response to political promises and market demands for improved education has been the initiation of a “one size fits all” centralised curriculum with associated standards for graduate and practicing teachers. Successful integration of the needs of the individual and the needs of broader community will require transparent assessment practices that overcome an inherent potential for subjectivity. Such success should also enable the retention of identity for today’s globalised students who now exercise increasing choice in their future.