Critical professionalism: why we all need the courage to question

There is a quiet crisis in education, not one of standards or outcomes, but of purpose. We are living in a performative age defined by data, targets, and accountability measures that have reshaped the way teachers and leaders think about their work. In education, the pressures are constant. Every week brings a new form to complete, a new audit to satisfy, a new demand to evidence “impact.” Behind it all sits the assumption that if something cannot be measured, it cannot matter.