Examining Preservice Teachers’ Conceptions of Teaching to Consider the Impact of Policymakers’ Neoliberal Reforms on Their Sensemaking of Their New Profession

Policymakers’ neoliberal education reforms have altered teaching and teacher education. These neoliberal policies reframe teaching and teacher education through conceptions of standards, academic achievement, data, and accountability. By doing so, many new and experienced teachers have left the field, and this has caused many who remain to question their ability to attain policymakers’ objectives and what it means to be a teacher. Yet, little is known about the impact of these neoliberal reforms on preservice teachers. In this article, we begin to attend to this issue by examining how a sample of preservice teachers made sense of their role as teachers and the profession they are entering. We then analyze whether such sensemaking reflects policymakers’ neoliberal framing of these constructs. Based on these findings, we outline opportunities for teacher educators to work with their preservice teachers to interpret, critique, and respond to policymakers’ neoliberal reforms.