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This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of two high school teachers who approach their work as reflective practitioners, capable of thinking deeply about systemic issues and teachers' work lives. Our research questions included: 1) how do the conditions of schooling influence an intellectual approach to teachers' work?; 2) how do narrowly defined evaluations of educators' work impact teacher morale?; and 3) how do differences in the work of teachers and administrators catalyze division with a school culture? Data illustrate the influence of professional landscapes and unearth how lessthan-satisfying conditions are expressed in environments devoid of discourse that fosters an intellectual approach to teachers' work. Findings specifically address solutions and recommendations for supporting teachers through structures for dialogue and action.
From an outsider's perspective the conditions of public education are often portrayed as running the gamut. Educational institutions, and the "workers" within, often reside along a continuum. Included within the spectrum are snapshots of organizational dysfunction and the occasional human-interest story where "excellence" equates with lives of those consumed by "making a difference." These dichotomies in viewpoints often serves as a public barometer on the status of the teaching profession, and the quality of education provided. Subsequent conversations through the media, at the water cooler, or through tweets and message boards cast blame on any number of reasons why the profession, as a whole, is perceived as in need of a fundamental overhaul due to its inadequacy, subpar international standing, and downright broken status. Forgotten in the effort to resuscitate a system, are the teacher bystanders whose daily work remains constant as indicators of "quality" endure, as moving targets.
Data for this narrative were derived from a threeyear chronicle of discussions with a group of educators who grappled with the reality of their work lives and the struggles they faced when confronted with mandates to standardize teachers' work. Initial conversations on the status of the profession bled into inquiries by two teachers determined to think deeply about their work.
A central finding of this study is the importance of acknowledging and nurturing dimensions of teachers' work that value them as intellectuals within school contexts. For teachers who regularly consider in-depth and sophisticated understandings of all that schools encompass (e.g., politics, economies, religion, gender, race,...