Articulations of teaching practice: a case study of teachers and "general capabilities"

The research reported on in this paper is a qualitative case study of secondary school teachers’ interpretations of how they work with a component of the Australian national curriculum, the seven “general capabilities.” The case study of four secondary school teachers utilized teacher interviews eliciting via descriptive analysis how teachers understand and work with the “general capabilities.” The Australian curriculum listing explicit “general capabilities” alongside endorsed disciplines and cross-curriculum priorities requires teachers and their associated classroom practice(s) bond to practical dexterities. Policy expectations are such that the knowledge, skills, behaviors and dispositions of the “general capabilities,” along with curriculum content and cross-curriculum priority areas will support students to successfully live and work in the twenty-first century. While policy expectations appear well defined, including expectations that teachers navigate and implement relevant curriculum in creative ways, the study underpinning this paper finds that teachers assert their professional and pedagogic authority over the curriculum by enacting and translating it for the benefit of their students.