A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

This research is a feminist discourse analysis of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Five Core Propositions. The goal of this project is to shift the focus of educational discourse away from teachers’ gender and look towards their teachers’ teaching abilities as compared to the professional standards laid out in the NBPTS. It demonstrates that the national expectations placed on teachers are feminist and addresses and discredits current patriarchal discourse and policies in the field of education. This is accomplished through a close reading of the Five Core Propositions, drawing connections between the expectations in the document and the feminist values of care, diversity, and collaboration. The results uncover that the National Boards for Professional Teaching Standards espouse feminist values while discrediting patriarchal values. Because of this, the educational community must push policy makers and pundits to change their patriarchal expectations of teachers to align with the feminist values of the national standards