Exploring the ontological nature of teachers' conversations

Conversations between teachers have changed over time influenced by educational policy and practice on one hand and the intensification of administration on the other hand. Conversations appear to be increasingly associated with the management of assessment, professional standards and standardization, organizational development and performativity measures. These broader changes within the educational context impact on teachers' experiences of being in conversation with their colleagues; experiences that appear to be largely overlooked. This hermeneutic phenomenological research, explored the experiential and ontological nature of teachers' lived experiences and ways-of-being in conversation within the Australian Secondary school context. A number of phenomenological themes emerged from the research which have been described and interpreted against the writing of existential philosophers, specifically Heidegger and Gadamer, amongst others. The research uncovered a range of ontological understandings important to the current context and likely to be of great interest to practitioners and policy makers alike.