The deprofessionalization of secondary school teacher training between the two world wars: the reform of teacher training between 1921–1929

Abstract

1924 is perceived as a special year due to the introduction of Act 27 of 1924 on the training and qualification of secondary school teachers in Hungary. So far, analyses of the law have outlined the connection between the transformation of teacher training and the social aims of the government expressed in the modification of the institutions of secondary schools. The current study seeks to interpret the reform of teacher education from a different angle in a new chronology and by the application of a new theoretical framework. The application of the critical approach of professional theories, and particularly the notion of deprofessionalization shed light on the alternating connections between the government and the professional groups that monopolized secondary teacher training. Document analysis of archival sources and secondary literature review were employed as primary methods. Results of the research suggest that government entities utilized the standardization endeavours of professional groups to extend the political control of professional institutions by determining the conditions of revising key documents of their operation, and also by the appointment of government affiliates in key positions. Intrusion into the operation of professional institutions to such an extent threatened with the perspective of deprofessionalization.