Impact of new public management: narratives of Portuguese teachers

Abstract

We have observed major restructuring of the public sector in European countries over recent years, that essentially results from discussion and lack of consensus regarding the role of the state in contemporary societies. The proposals for change inherent to recent public policies attempt to change the traditional form of the State’s organization and management and conceptions about public sector professionals and their work. The underlying goal has been to decrease the State's presence, erecting a new approach to public management based on market principles and private management - New Public Management – in the expectation that this will improve the provision of services to citizens. In Portugal, the goal to comply with regulatory and supervisory functions in governance has been sensed immediately, at least in educational contexts, triggering significant changes in the life of institutions and teachers, through multiple laws applied to schools, which have affected the teaching profession: from the reformulation of the Statute of the Teaching Career (2007), and Reclassification and Conversion (2008) to Rescission by Mutual Agreement (2013). In this article we present some results of empirical research that emphasises a qualitative approach, focusing on the biographical narratives of teachers from the three cycles of basic education (primary and middle schools) teaching in different schools in the North of Portugal and who requested rescission of their contracts with the State. The main objective of this research is to identify the impact that public policies have had on teachers’ work. The teachers’ written biographical narratives fundamentally demonstrate that the impact of policies is experienced in a highly distressful manner, interfering with the performance of their profession.