Abstract
Teaching research activities (TRA) in China are practical and reflective research of teachers on teaching. These required activities are meant to ensure quality education and facilitate the professional development of teachers. However, in TRA, teachers encounter many challenges such as low efficiency and weak team collaboration. These problems make it hard to achieve the expected outcomes. W Primary School reformed its activities using Change Laboratory, a formative intervention approach to workplace learning and development based on activity theory. The data collected included seven recorded meetings in the Change Laboratory. The conversations in the meetings were then transcribed into texts. A deductive method of content analysis was used to code the data, focusing on categorizing comments of teachers about the transformative agency. The findings showed the following: (1) There were five types of transformative agencies, namely, resisting, criticizing, explicating, envisioning, and committing to actions. Resisting and criticizing were represented less frequently, and taking action did not emerge as a type of transformative agency. (2) The comments about transformative agency about tools were more frequent than comments about other elements in the activity system. (3) There were some differences in the expression of transformative agency across participants. At the end of this study, the implications for the development of TRA are discussed.
Highlights
Teaching research activities (TRA) in China are practical and reflective research of teachers on teaching
We examined whether teachers showed new expressions of transformative agency and increases in transformative agency throughout these discussions
We focused on the individual differences and change in transformative agency throughout the sessions
Summary
Teaching research activities (TRA) in China are practical and reflective research of teachers on teaching. The method originated from the former Soviet Union and gradually developed its Chinese characteristics. It has become a regular activity for primary school teachers in China. TRA include implementation of curriculum plans, collective preparation for teaching, conducting school-based research activities, and creating open teaching classrooms (Gong, 2014). Under the New Curriculum Reforms of China, “teachers are researchers,” and the professional development of Development of Teachers’ Transformative Agency teachers is increasingly emphasized. Teachers are expected to critically reflect on their activity to improve and develop their teaching practices
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