CONVERGING REFORMS AND THE WORKING LIVES OF FRONTLINE PROFESSIONALS IN SCHOOLS

Frontline professionals (classroom teachers and health and social serv ices professionals) are faced with growing responsibility for implemen ting an increasing array of reform initiatives. These reforms often re quire significant changes in (a) governance and decision making; (b) c urriculum, instruction, and assessment; and (c) health and social serv ices. At the present time, this phenomenon has received little attenti on and is poorly understood. This article investigates what is known a bout the impact of each of these reforms on the working lives of front line professionals, speculates about how these reforms might interact with each other as they converge on the school, and describes potentia l responses by frontline professionals. In conclusion, the authors pro pose three lines of inquiry that could inform policy makers as they re spond to the needs of frontline professionals.