Action-Research and the Emergence of Teacher Appraisal in the UK.

Schools and universities in the United Kingdom are coming to accept performance appraisal as a fact of life. The first part of this paper discusses appraisal policies as "negotiated ambiguities." Ambiguous criteria concerning wording subject to misinterpretation has created reservations on the side of the National Union of Teachers. This study demonstrates how an appraisal scheme, which appears to satisfy all the criteria specified in the government's conciliation service's framework for school teachers, can operate as a ritualistic mechanism for ideological construction. The report presents a guide that outlines the process of improving performance at all levels of the hierarchy in schools. The possibility of a counterhegemonic practice in the appraisal context is also discussed. (18 references) (SI)