Exploring How Lived Experiences Shape Technology Beliefs and Teacher Agency: A Study of Novice EFL Teachers

Teacher agency has a powerful influence on teachers’ classroom practices, student learning outcomes, and other professional undertakings. Although teacher agency shaping is a core subject of professional development (PD), most in-service PD initiatives focus on developing teaching knowledge and skills while enhancing teacher agency. The current study investigates the influence of Cambridge English Teacher (CET) professional development on EFL teachers’ agency development in an English Language Institute at a Saudi Arabian public university. Utilizing retrospective pretest post-test design, a quantitative questionnaire provides data to understand EFL teachers’ agency development as they participate in the CET development program. Based on the theoretical framework of the current study, EFL teacher agency change is characterized by three attributes: teachers’ say in curriculum and syllabus designing, teachers’ freedom to implement teaching methods and techniques, and teachers’ autonomy in using supplementary materials. In analysing the PRE and POST data, descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed Rank test were employed. The findings show that all three teacher agency attributes are significantly influenced as a result of the CET development program. However, regarding the extent to which teacher agency attribute has enhanced, the results exhibit different degrees of change. The findings suggest that institutionally imposed professional development is useful for the development of teachers’ agency, provided PD initiatives are cognizant of teachers’ needs and institutional requirements. The findings of the current study have implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers or professional development specialists, and language institutes’ administration.

As a language education policy, Curriculum Ideology and Politics (CIP) has constructed an ecological environment for teacher agency. From the ecological perspective, this study explores the manifestations of and influencing factors in university EFL teachers’ agency through policy analysis, interviews, classroom observations, and reflective journals. The study finds: (1) In the spatial dimension, the macrosystem exhibits a clear ideological tendency but teacher agency is positive and active; the exosystem indirectly promotes teacher agency and acts as a mediating tool; the mesosystem limits or even suppresses teacher agency; within the microsystem, teachers implement the policies in their own teaching styles but often lack sufficient scaffolding. (2) In the temporal dimension, the practical-evaluative system shows the most evident teacher agency, while the iterative and projective systems show relatively less evident teacher agency. The interaction of the spatial and temporal dimensions jointly constructs teacher agency. The study suggests that the implementation of CIP requires the introduction of third-party forces and greater active roles to be played by intermediate institutions.

يعد تدريس الطلبة ذوي الإعاقة في فصول الدمج من القضايا التي تشغل صانعي ومنفذي السياسات التعليمية، لما تمثله هذه الفئة من مصدر للضغوط على المعلمين نظرا لاحتياجاتهم التعليمية المتنوعة. وتعد المتغيرات النفسية المرتبطة بأداء المعلم مثل الکفاءة الذاتية، والاتجاهات والدافعية من العوامل التي تساعد المعلم على أداء دوره على أکمل وجه. ومن ثم هدفت الدراسة الحالية إلى دراسة متغير حديث نسبيا في الأدب البحثي وهو المبادأة لدى المعلم وعلاقتها بمهاراته المهنية والدعم الذي يتلقاه في المدرسة وذلک في بيئتين عربيتين مختلفتين، هما مصر وعمان. وقد استخدمت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي الارتباطي، واشتملت عينة الدراسة على 255 (40% ذکور، 60% إناث) معلما من مصر 133 (26% ذکور، 74% إناث) معلما من سلطنة عمان في مدارس التعليم العام الدامجة. وقد استخدمت الدراسة مقياس الکفاءة المهنية للمعلم والذي يقيس مبادأة المعلم والمهارات المهنية ومقياس دعم المعلم متعدد الأبعاد. وقد أظهرت نتائج الدراسة عدم وجود تأثير لمتغير البلد (مصر-عمان) على العلاقة بين المبادأة والمهارات المهنية للمعلم، ووجود تأثير وسيط للدعم المهني في العلاقة بين مبادأة المعلم، والمهارات المهنية. وأن متغير البلد (مصر-عمان) يدير تأثير الدعم المهني على العلاقة بين مبادأة المعلم والمهارات المهنية. وتم مناقشة النتائج وتضميناتها في ضوء الأدب النظري والسياق البيئي. Teaching students with disability in inclusive classroom is one of the issues that preoccupied both policymakers and implementors due to diverse needs-related stress those students place on teachers ‘shoulders. Teacher related psychological variables are amongst the factors that have an impact on his/her performance such as self-efficacy, attitudes and motivation. The current study examines one recent variable, namely teacher agency in relation to professional skills and school support. Convenience sampling was employed to recruit teachers to participate in the study in both Egypt and Oman. In Oman, 133 teachers submitted their responses (26% males, 74% females), while in Egypt 225 (40% males, 60% females) teachers responded to the survey. The researchers used Teacher Professional Competence Scale (TPCS) and The Multidimensional Teacher Support Scale. Results of the study showed that both Egypt and Oman did not moderate the association between teacher agency and professional skills, professional support mediates the association between teacher agency and professional skills, and the two countries (Egypt, Oman) moderate the mediating role of professional support on the association between teacher agency and professional skills. Implications of the study are discussed in the light of the related literature and cultural relevance.

Despite numerous studies on teacher’s agency and self-efficacy, little attention has been given to examining how teachers’ agency manifests in the use of artificial intelligence and how it influences teachers’ self-efficacy. Teachers as active agents are demanded to effectively and independently exercise their digital agency in teaching. In essence, teacher’s agency allows them to make informed choices about using artificial intelligence to promote their teaching, which might influence their perceptions of their self-efficacy. Thus, this study aims to fill the gap by examining how EFL teachers’ agency manifests in the utilization of AI tools and how they perceive their self-efficacy. Employing a qualitative study, this research employed open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather the data. Five EFL teachers who have used artificial intelligence in their teaching participated in this study. To analyze the data, the researcher employed selective coding. The data revealed two teacher agency drove three participants to use artificial intelligence in three parts namely lesson planning, implementation, and assessment, and the other two participants used it for lesson planning and assessment. Furthermore, this study found that the five participants perceived high self-efficacy towards their use of artificial intelligence. Thus, schools and teacher educational programs should provide targeted professional development programs that emphasize the importance of teacher agency. In particular, training should focus on how teachers can utilize artificial intelligence tools to enhance their pedagogical practices that contribute to building high self-efficacy.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers are seemingly ideally placed to mediate the successful socialisation of multilingual learners into the new school environment for two major reasons. Firstly, as they have effective command of both L1 and L2 and often have experience of living abroad, they tend to exhibit higher levels of openness to new situations, empathy and understanding of the difficulties faced by multilingual learners. Secondly, the English class can itself be a platform for mutual understanding where learners are able to develop both English communication skills and intercultural competence (cf. Hopp, Jakisch, Sturm, Becker & Thoma 2020; Krulatz, Neokleous & Dahl 2022). As English is the language of instruction, it also has the potential to maintain levels of multilingual competence among those learners who already speak English as their heritage language (Banasiak & Olpińska-Szkiełko 2021), e.g. migrant children returning from the UK/Ireland. Drawing on data from a larger project (Rokita-Jaśkow, Wolanin, Król-Gierat & Nosidlak 2022), which consisted of interviewing 23 primary school EFL teachers in various contexts, this paper analyses the possible factors that impact teacher agency in the socialisation of multilinguals. It has been found that teacher agency in that respect appears to stem from teachers’ plurilingual competence and prior teaching experience. Surprisingly, personal experiences of intercultural encounters (e.g. time spent living abroad) or verbalised empathy, had little impact on teacher agency. This finding implies that even language teachers find it difficult to put themselves in the position of the multilingual learner and need specialist training in order to work with multilingual learners, which may convey an important message for educational decision-makers with reference to the formulation of future teacher education guidelines and curricula.

Teacher agency is considered a key driver of teacher professional growth, student improvement, and educational change. This study contributes to the sparse research on language teacher agency in blended learning (BL). Using activity theory to conceptualize teacher agency, this study explores how two English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers exerted agency while implementing BL at a Chinese university. This study also examines the factors that mediate the exercise of agency. Data were collected through classroom observations, interviews with both teachers and their students, and course documents to provide a thorough understanding of teachers’ experiences with blended teaching. The data analysis revealed that successful agentic actions to address contradictions included selecting the appropriate delivery to match learning goals, making good use of online tools for interaction, assigning students active roles, flexibly enacting rules, and building a supportive climate. However, some contradictions within the instructional activity system remain unresolved. Mediating factors such as tools (teachers’ expertise and beliefs), community (students and other professors), and rules (curriculum assessment) were found to shape teacher agency in the BL context. This study contributes to the literature on teacher agency in BL, and provides practical recommendations for teacher professional development and curriculum reform.

Inclusive education is a priority in policy and programmes in most countries, irrespective of the numerous challenges in its implementation. This article aims to explore how teacher agency functions to implement inclusive education in mainstream schools in Nepal so that it provides a positive participatory experience for students with disabilities. It examines how teacher agency, the perceived identity of students with disabilities and their positive participatory experiences shape teacher identity. Eight teachers from three schools, two urban and one rural, were selected purposively as research participants for interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was carried out to build a case study on inclusive education in Nepal. The findings suggest proactive teacher agency strives for more positive participatory experiences for students with disabilities. This requires a shift from traditional teacher identity towards a more inclusive teacher identity, while still functioning within the traditional curricular and pedagogical framework and operating in an environment that lacks resources. Teachers' personal factors mediated by the immediate school environment and the broader socio‐cultural and political environment are noted as causal factors that shape teacher agency. This study shows how teacher agency, student participation and teacher identity constitute a mutually dependent system that generates momentum towards inclusive education in a resource‐poor environment. It concludes that policymakers and school leaders should seek to develop this proactive teacher agency to enhance inclusive practice.

This article reports on a 2‐year collaborative action research project carried out in 2022–2023, which investigated the intersection of social justice and advocacy in English language teaching. The aim was to describe how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers working at state secondary schools in two Argentinian cities harnessed their agency to mobilise advocacy among their secondary school students. Theoretically grounded in social justice language education, advocacy in language education, and teacher agency, participants were seven in‐service EFL teachers, five pre‐service teachers, and 220 secondary school students, of whom 30 were adult learners. Research instruments comprised open‐ended questionnaires, teaching artefacts, lesson plans, classroom observations and interviews. Reflective thematic analysis was used. Findings indicate that the teachers enacted a set of principles as their identity as advocates for social justice through situated pedagogical practices: (a) teachers’ reflexivity, (b) shift from a focus‐on‐form teaching approach to critical approaches to language teaching, (c) localisation, (d) social responsibility and action cultivation and (e) synergy between teachers’ and students’ agency. Teacher agency, mobilised through reflection and action, became a driving force and an organising device. Implications for language teacher education for social justice and advocacy are considered.

Scarce studies have been conducted to understand teacher autonomy, teacher agency, and teacher identity exhibited by English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers. This study was conducted to fill this gap by exploring how four student teachers take control of their teaching, conduct agentic behavior, and negotiate identities in the Chinese EFL context. Data included interviews, school documents, participants’ practicum reports, and lesson plans. Findings revealed that EFL student teachers encountered constraints related to the school curriculum, evaluation mechanisms, and social settings. Constraints affected their capacity to negotiate the gap between reality and ideals and fostered changes and innovations in teaching. These forces, influenced by the social, institutional, and physical settings, also affected the formation of their identities. The different development trajectories during the teaching practicums were found to be related to teacher autonomy, teacher agency, and teacher identity. While concluding with implications for teaching pre-service teachers and running teaching practicums, the present study also argues for considering the three interrelated constructs as essential parts of researching pre-service EFL teacher education.

While the benefits of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for enhancing pedagogical skills are well documented, its role in shaping teachers' agency and reflective teaching (RT) as cognitive‐affective constructs remains underexplored. Existing studies primarily focus on CPD's impact on instructional effectiveness, leaving a significant gap in understanding how it influences teachers' self‐regulation, professional autonomy, and reflective engagement. Moreover, the extent to which CPD is associated with variations in agency and RT, particularly in EFL contexts, has not been adequately investigated. To address these gaps, this study examined the relationships among CPD, agency, and RT using a survey‐based approach. A total of 384 Chinese EFL teachers participated in the study, completing three validated instruments: the Continuing Professional Development Questionnaire (CPDQ), the Teacher Agency Scale (TAS), and the Reflective Teaching Inventory (RTI). Correlational analyses revealed significant positive associations among CPD, agency, and RT. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis indicated that CPD accounted for 51% of the variance in teacher agency and 44% in RT, suggesting that greater engagement in CPD is linked to higher levels of agency and reflective teaching. This study contributes to the field by reframing CPD as more than a means of pedagogical improvement, emphasising its role in fostering teacher cognition, autonomy, and reflective practice. The findings challenge conventional CPD frameworks that prioritise technical training over cognitive‐affective development, advocating for professional development programs that actively cultivate teacher agency and reflection. For policymakers and teacher educators, the results underscore the need for CPD models that integrate structured opportunities for reflective inquiry, collaborative learning, and decision‐making autonomy. Future research should employ longitudinal and mixed‐methods designs to further explore the mechanisms through which CPD shapes teacher agency and reflection over time and across diverse educational settings.

While prior research suggests that teachers’ conceptions of assessment (CoA) are influenced by their personal characteristics, experiences, and specific sociocultural contexts, how these factors influence teachers’ CoA is still underexplored. This narrative study explores what teachers’ CoA are, as well as how influential factors mediate their CoA by drawing on data from narrative frames with 48 high school EFL teachers in China. Findings reveal that teachers commonly endorsed the improvement-oriented purpose of assessment. A range of factors is found to have exerted influences to different degrees on these conceptions, including personal factors (i.e., teachers’ agency in assessment), experiential factors [i.e., (anti-)apprenticeship of observation about assessment], and contextual factors (i.e., exam-oriented culture). These findings are discussed in terms of how teachers negotiate the improvement- and accountability-oriented purposes of assessment, as well as how teachers’ CoA are shaped by teacher agency, emotional experiences as assessees, and the exam-oriented culture. This paper concludes with implications for research on teachers’ CoA and policy, practice, and professional development of teacher assessment literacy.

A major increase in empirical and theoretical interest in teacher identity has occurred within the last 20 years. This increase is frequently ascribed to changing perceptions of teachers' roles. Critical incidents affect teachers' development and their professional identity. The issues include how teachers deal with challenging situations in their profession and their sense of agency. This problem can be overcome by educating students to be more assertive in the classroom. This study aims to investigate the professional identities of three in-service EFL teachers through the lens of critical incidents. Three in-service EFL teachers from different regions in Indonesia were purposefully selected as the participants. The main instrument for data collection in this study was the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) by utilizing reflections and in depth-interview to gather the data and ensure triangulation. Respondents voluntarily participated in this research. The result of this research demonstrated that there were 17 codes of CI which were classified into 3 major categories possessed by the participants, namely: students’ behavior, teachers’ reflective practice, and students’ reaction. The strategies teachers use to handle challenging situations in their profession consist of how teachers deal with decision-making, integrating technology, and developing suitable materials.

Major potential effects of abrupt changes in educational settings particularly for education stakeholders such as teachers have been somewhat interesting to examine. This study examines how teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in different schooling levels acclimatize their experiences due to the unanticipated Covid-19 outbreak, which forced them to pursue Online Distance Learning (ODL). Employing a phenomenological approach, eight teachers from various educational and psychometric backgrounds in three different provinces in Indonesia shared their experiences in coping with the changes. Before engaging in two semi-structured interviews, they were invited to complete an e-reflection to share their feelings, concerns, difficulties, and challenges. To get to the core of their experience, the data were scrutinized following an interpretive phenomenological analysis which includes an early focus on the lines of inquiry, central concerns and important themes, identification of shared meanings, final interpretations, and the dissemination of the interpretations. The findings demonstrated that the changes created an ambivalent experience of being challenged and bored, prompting teachers to reflect on their existing practice and respond appropriately by combining empathy, new roles, and technology paramount through their self-directed learning (SDL). Further implications on teacher agency and identity are discussed to shed light on the reshaping of teacher identities due to ODL and SDL.

This study investigates the digital literacy of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and the challenges and support systems they encounter in integrating technology into 21st-century classrooms. Drawing on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and classroom observations with seven EFL teachers, the research explores the multidimensional nature of teachers' digital literacy, the systemic and emotional obstacles they face, and the informal strategies they adopt to cope. The findings reveal that digital literacy among EFL teachers extends beyond technical skill to include pedagogical adaptability and critical awareness. However, limitations such as infrastructural instability, lack of institutional guidance, and emotional resistance often hinder full digital engagement. Despite these challenges, teachers demonstrate agency by forming peer support networks, engaging in self-directed learning, and drawing encouragement from student feedback. These informal mechanisms, while valuable, highlight the absence of coordinated institutional support. The study concludes that sustainable digital integration in EFL contexts requires a holistic approach that combines technological access, emotional support, and professional learning communities. By reframing digital literacy as a dynamic and context-sensitive practice, the study contributes to ongoing dialogues around teacher agency, equity, and innovation in language education.

The development of EFL teacher agency for research in a domestic visiting scholar program in China: A case study.