“I’m just going through the motions”: High-Stakes Accountability and Teachers’ Access to Intrinsic Rewards

Abstract

This article explores teachers’ experiences under high-stakes accountability and shows how the narrowing of curriculum depleted teachers’ intrinsic work rewards. The article analyzes data from an ethnographic study of teachers’ work in two high-poverty urban public schools. The study shows that as instructional mandates emphasized a narrowed curriculum, teachers’ professional discretion diminished. When teachers felt forced to work in ways that misaligned with their beliefs about teaching and learning, they were unable to secure pleasure and enjoyment in the course of their work.