Teacher Agency Research Articles

An ecological approach to understanding the agency of novice EFL teachers without initial teacher education background

ABSTRACT Existing research extensively explores challenges faced by novice teachers with initial teacher education (ITE) backgrounds, whereas those without ITE exposure (non-ITE backgrounds) remain less investigated. Utilising the ecological model of teacher agency, this study examines the affordances and constraints encountered by English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers with non-ITE backgrounds during their first year at 12 Chinese state junior high schools. Thematic analysis of interviews with 21 purposively sampled participants reveals that non-ITE backgrounds pose constraints, such as limited pedagogical knowledge, perceived inadequacy by peers with ITE exposure, and professional identity crises. However, significant affordances were also identified, including broad knowledge bases from diverse academic backgrounds and varied internship experiences, high intrinsic motivation, and robust innovation capabilities. Implications for teacher education programmes and school administration are discussed, highlighting the need for tailored support mechanisms to address the unique challenges and leverage the strengths of teachers without ITE backgrounds.

‘We have a great deal of influence’: Finnish early childhood in-service teachers’ agency for culturally sustaining pedagogy

ABSTRACT This qualitative study focused on the role of teacher agency and critical reflection in the context of an in-service training programme for early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers in Finland. The programme emphasised culturally sustainable pedagogy and aimed to support teachers in an increasingly multilingual society. This study aimed to investigate how teachers displayed agency as they tried to promote culturally sustaining pedagogy, and how critical reflection interacted with teachers’ professional agency. The data of the study were versatile, as they consisted of influential texts implemented via the creative writing process, two questionnaires, and interviews with the participants. The data were analysed theoretically and empirically through inductive-deductive reasoning. The investigation revealed four levels at which in-service teachers manifest agency in culturally sustaining pedagogy: individual, child-oriented, institutional, and societal. The results revealed that by writing influential texts, ECEC practitioners significantly challenged their assumptions about their agentic capacity and inspired them to reflect on their practices critically. The findings also revealed that in terms of the targeted audience, participants were not confident in their agentic role in influencing systemic change. These findings highlight the importance of discussing multiple aspects of agency in teacher education by using guided critical reflection.

Conceptualising a data analytics framework to support targeted teacher professional development

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a conceptual framework enabling the development and adoption of descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and recommendatory data analytics in teacher professional learning by harnessing some of the affordances of digital technologies to convert data into actionable insights. The paper argues for a technology-enhanced approach that uses data to support teachers in selecting appropriate professional development (PD) options to improve their professional practice. The ultimate goal is to lay the foundations for a robust and adaptable data analytics framework that could offer tailored PD recommendations based on the developmental trajectories of individual teachers. The paper analyses data-supported personalised professional learning as meaning-making and the appropriation of cultural artefacts within the ‘mobile complex’ - consisting of structures, agency, and the dynamic interplay between cultural and technological tools and practices. This study undertakes a comprehensive literature review to identify key concepts, gaps, and theoretical insights, informing the development of a data analytics framework. The resultant framework integrates personalisation, teacher agency and autonomy, contextual relevance, and ethical safeguards into PD process, aiming to foster a responsive, collaborative, and context-aware data-supported PD.

Teachers’ Interaction with Prescribed Teaching Materials: Evaluation, Adaptation and Exploitation

In recent years, material development in English language teaching has received growing attention, yet the interaction between English language teachers and prescribed teaching materials remains an under-researched area. This study aims to address this issue and contribute to the understanding of teachers’ agency in their interactions with prescribed textbooks. The study addresses this gap by exploring how five high school English teachers in two major cities in southern and southwestern China interact with prescribed textbooks within the curriculum policy context. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, the study investigates teachers’ evaluation, adaptation, and exploitation of materials, revealing that while teachers exercise agency in material development, both textbook structure and external factors contribute to the deprofessionalisation of teachers. The findings underscore the complex relationship between a standardised curriculum and teachers’ context-sensitive practices, highlighting the need for flexible textbook designs and more supportive administrative practices to better facilitate teacher agency in classroom material use.

Geography teacher educators’ perspectives on education for sustainability: identity and agency in a period of rapid education policy change in England

Initial Teacher Education in England is in a period of rapid policy change. This is happening at a time when discourse about humans’ relationships with nature is changing, and there is increased recognition of the impacts that people have had on the Earth. Through a questionnaire and focus groups, we engaged with geography teacher educators’ experiences of, and perspectives on, Education for Sustainability (EfS). Using Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson, using the key dimensions of teacher agency model to analyse focus group data, we found that EfS was not consistently engaged with in geography teacher education, and where it was, it varied in the amount of time given to it, and the nature of the ideas, debates and knowledges engaged with through it. Whilst national education policy in England is constraining in some areas, its failure to truly engage with EfS has led geography teacher educators—in their own words—to “navigate” and “subvert” state-imposed policy. The article concludes by arguing for dialogue between geography teacher educators and policy makers to inform teacher education about EfS that supports the agency of young people, teachers and teacher educators in making informed decisions about education practices, as well as their lives and futures.

Contributions of an Emotion-Oriented Professional Development Course to the Ecology of Language Teacher Agency

Contributions of an Emotion-Oriented Professional Development Course to the Ecology of Language Teacher Agency

Language Teacher Agency and Identity in Internationalized Higher Education: An Ecological Perspective

ABSTRACTSubstantial literature has focused on language teacher agency and identity in relation to learners in classrooms. Relatively little research exists regarding the nature of language teacher identity shaped by contextual factors brought on by the internationalization of education. To address the gap in the literature, this study explored how student teachers in a TESOL program negotiate their language teacher agency and identity in the ecosystems of an internationalized institution of higher education while contributing to different ESL programs. While pursuing an MA degree in TESOL with a teaching opportunity at an Intensive English program for non‐matriculating students or an ESL service program for pathway program students at a US university, seven student teachers participated in semi‐structured interviews, which were triangulated with the student teachers’ portfolios of lesson plans and reflection papers. The analysis demonstrated the student teachers’ agentic beliefs, choices, and practices in relation to contextual factors in the nested ecosystems of internationalized higher education, such as international students’ needs in the microsystem, training opportunities in the mesosystem, institutional policy and practice in the exosystem, and broad cultural norms in relation to language education in the macrosystem.

Crisis times and school education: is teacher agency changing?

ABSTRACT This article explores how educators dealt with an unprecedented educational crisis using remote teaching and delve into the characteristics of teacher agency in crisis situations. Employing a multiple case study design, the study explores diverse school experiences in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile. Data were gathered from three schools, comprising 24 interviews (18 teachers and six administrators) and analysed using grounded theory. Findings suggest that teachers demonstrate the ability to reconstruct the affected dimensions when faced with a lack of pedagogical resources for emergency remote teaching (fracture in the iterative dimension) and uncertainty about the future (fracture in the projective dimension). Moreover, the agentic transition can explain the practical-evaluative dimension in crises. Across three stages, agentic transition outlines a journey for teachers, from grappling with an unprecedented crisis with limited resources to normalising their practices with technical expertise in the context of new remote teaching scenarios. The present article introduces key concepts and models and delves into implications and future projections.

Strengthening Teacher Agency: Supporting the Orchestration of Ethical Dilemmas With EthicApp

Developing ethical reasoning as a competence is gaining relevance in higher education settings influenced by the current demands of society. One approach to achieve this competence is to propose realistic ethical dilemmas to the students. Nevertheless, educators need help in integrating ethics education effectively in higher education due to curricular constraints and a lack of supportive structures. EthicApp is a social platform that aims to support teachers in designing and enacting learning scenarios to foster ethical reasoning. However, the introduction of a new tool such as EthicApp may have undesired consequences for teachers’ agency. The notion of teacher agency is complex and not sufficiently studied in Technology Enhanced Learning contexts. For this reason, we propose to study the implications of the use of EthicApp for teacher agency in the light of the metaphor of orchestration. The metaphor of orchestration in TEL offers a holistic approach to studying how teachers integrate technologies into their practice. This paper presents preliminary findings from a case study in which three higher education teachers orchestrated learning designs supported by EthicApp. Early findings indicate that, although managing the learning scenarios in real-time was perceived as demanding, EthicApp empowered the participant teachers to design innovative learning scenarios, raise awareness, and inform the adaptation of the learning scenarios.

Teaching for Social Justice: How Educators Address Inequalities in STEM Education

Inequalities in STEM education remain a persistent issue, disproportionately affecting underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, and low-income students. This study aims to explore how educators address these inequalities through social justice frameworks in their teaching practices. Grounded in theories of culturally relevant pedagogy and critical pedagogy, the research investigates the role of teachers as key agents in promoting equity in STEM classrooms. A systematic literature review was conducted, drawing from case studies, academic articles, and policy reports, focusing on strategies that educators use to create more inclusive and supportive learning environments. The findings reveal that educators utilize a range of methods, such as differentiated instruction, inclusive curriculum design, and culturally responsive teaching, to address disparities in STEM education. However, significant challenges, including limited resources and inconsistent institutional support, hinder full implementation. This paper highlights the importance of teacher agency and the need for professional development programs that equip educators to better address social justice in STEM education. It contributes to existing literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of best practices while identifying gaps in research on long-term impacts and global applicability.

Rural teachers’ appropriation of national bilingual policies: voices from the Colombian periphery

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study explores how rural teachers in the Colombian periphery perceive and appropriate national bilingual policies. I drew theoretically on coloniality/decoloniality, bilingualism, and teacher agency and collected data through questionnaires and in-depth interviews from four self-contained rural elementary school teachers. Data were analysed through thematic analysis and thematic coding and yielded three research categories: (a) bilingual policies and teaching realities gap, (b) policies’ discourses and teacher identity interconnectedness, and (c) eclectic and collaborative teachers. The main findings suggest that teachers perceive bilingual education merely as English language teaching and that bilingual policies’ powerful discourses have influenced their identity negatively. Likewise, they acknowledge that the educational authorities’ expectations are distant from the rural realities, so theyrecur to various pedagogical strategies and collaborative work to teach English and address bilingual policies’ methodological shortcomings. However, these efforts suggest racialised/colonised perceptions and teaching practices that enforce global agendas and neglect local necessities. Hence, it is paramount that educational actors decolonise/deracialise bilingual policies by localising pedagogies and humanising bilingual education.

Being, non-being and the in-between

What is presence really? What are we talking about when we talk about presence? For a performer, it seems such an obvious thing but the closer you look, the more elusive it becomes, like one of those optical illusions which can only be perceived sideways through the eyes; looking directly makes it immediately disappear. And the whole thing becomes even more sideways when we take presence and put it in the middle of a classroom. Is it possible that we might have been over emphasising presence in the search for the elusive-mysterious? Have we been overly focused on presence in our pursuit of the qualities that make teaching and learning truly transformative? And obviously, what sort of transformative are we talking about in the fractured times that we live in? What is the other side of the story? What can Absence tell us about its polar twin? Does the absent become present by its very absence? And what or who is it that is absent? In my talk which I've framed as a set of field notes, entirely subjective observations gathered over a period of time, I am drawing upon my experience as a performer in search of the elusive-mysterious; my experience as a teaching artist in a teacher education program at Delhi University; and as a researcher investigating teacher agency in the classroom. In interrogating the binary of presence/absence, I seek to throw some light into that liminal space where these two intersect and collide, and begin to reveal the elusive-mysterious so that pedagogical practices can be reimagined and reenacted.

Using hope theory to understand changes from professional learning in inclusive education

AbstractProfessional learning for quality teaching is a lifelong enterprise. Nevertheless, it entails a considerable cost with varying outcomes. Drawing on Snyder's hope theory and Pantic's teacher agency, this paper aims to present a model aimed at deepening our understanding of teachers' intentions and competencies in inclusive education. The model formulates a professional learning cycle tailored to address their unique needs. This study draws on data from a larger qualitative dominant mixed‐methods study exploring 18 teachers' professional learning experience with the inclusionEd online platform. The process involved a pre‐training online survey and interviews and employed multiple strategies for data analysis. Descriptive statistics were used for pre‐training survey data to assess teacher‐participants' attitudes towards inclusion and efficacy levels in this area. Subsequently, using Snyder's hope theory and Pantic's teacher agency, we deductively analysed interview data. The quantitative results showed that teacher‐participants had positive beliefs about inclusive education with high efficacy. However, qualitative data analysis uncovered a misalignment between their stated beliefs and enacted beliefs, revealing diverse pathways to both success and challenges in their implementation of inclusive practices. The qualitative analysis, combined with the preliminary survey findings, unveiled the fluidity of hope and identified the influences on shifting hope and maintaining a positive stance. We offer an illustration of teacher professional learning pathways. Understanding how these pathways might be used to increase the value and outcomes of professional learning programmes is discussed. This study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research.

Rapid Response to Professional Development: How Online Teacher Professional Learning Networks Supported Teachers in Pandemic Times

During COVID-19, when teachers rapidly shifted to remote teaching and learning, it became evident that there was an educational crisis—teachers were unprepared for teaching using digital pedagogies. A group of teachers and teacher educators in Trinidad and Tobago, ITTPN Global, responded to the call for emergency professional development in ICT tools with a free workshop series via Zoom. The workshop series served to address teachers’ upskilling in key areas of ICT as digital pedagogy became the pandemic pedagogy. Pandemic pedagogy refers to teaching and learning during COVID-19. Teachers built confidence and competence in using ICT tools and designing online lessons. The professional learning model highlighted in this paper utilized authentic and active learning and teacher agency. This reflective essay examines the transformative possibilities of networks in a crisis with implications for professional teacher learning post pandemic.

The Role of Librarian-Faculty Relations in Academic Instruction Librarians' Conceptions and Experiences of Teacher Agency

The Role of Librarian-Faculty Relations in Academic Instruction Librarians' Conceptions and Experiences of Teacher Agency

A TPACK-based Model of EFL teacher Preparation to Develop Student-Teachers' Professional Agency in CALL

Teacher agency plays a crucial role in teachers' professionalism and makes them capable of acting powerfully in their teaching context. The present study was an attempt to explore the role of the TPACK model in developing a professional agency for English as a foreign language (EFL) student-teachers. We conducted a qualitative study in which seven TPACK sessions were held involving eight student-teachers. We analyzed data collected through narratives and interviews using deductive-inductive thematic analysis. The findings of the thematic analysis indicated that the TPACK model has a constructive role in developing EFL student-teachers' professional agency. The findings of this study showed that the TPACK model enhances the integration of technology with content and pedagogy, ultimately amplifying individuals' ideas and voices. Additionally, it allows educators to explore more effective teaching methods, resulting in increased motivation among teachers. A deeper understanding of technological knowledge empowers educators to seamlessly incorporate technology into their teaching practices. By providing teachers with a sense of ownership and expertise in the material they present, the TPACK model enables educators to make well-informed decisions and enhance their pedagogical knowledge, skills, and strategies to meet the evolving needs of their students and adapt to the changing educational environment.

가정과교사의 발달단계에 따른 좋은 수업에 대한 인식

The purpose of this study is to examine home economics teachers' perception and practice of good instruction according to teacher developmental stages, and to explore what efforts and supports are needed for good instruction. For this purpose, total of 6 home economics teachers were interviewed in depth by selecting 2 people from each development stage: adaptation stage, growth/development stage and mastery stage. Data were interpreted through analytical memo writing, initial coding, in-depth coding, and categorization. The results of the study are as follows. First, teachers in the ‘adaptation stage’ strive to break away from the fantasy of teaching skills. Teachers in the ‘growth/development stage’ continue to think in order to create good instruction with their own teaching style. Teachers in the ‘mastery stage’ constantly struggle to move for good instruction based on a firm curriculum identity. Second, They all think that the direction of good instruction is to be faithful to the essence of home economics education. Good instruction is reorganized to focus on a compositional perspective and connect with the lives of students. Third, In order to teach good instruction, home economics teachers need to make efforts to expand ‘teacher agency’. Forth, What is absolutely necessary to continue good instruction is the solidarity of home economics teachers. They need support to build solidarity. This study is expected to be a starting point to revitalize various discourses about the direction and practice of good home economics instruction in the future.

A classroom practitioner's self‐study on theorizing a practicality ethic framework for adopting digital affordances in language education

AbstractThis article recounts a classroom practitioner's doing and thinking on the adoption of digital affordances in the context of Languages Other Than English education at an Australian school. Through the lens of practicality ethic, this practitioner employs a self‐study methodology to explore the dynamic relationships between private theories of teaching and teacher agency in their daily use of Information and Communications Technology. Using qualitative data and content analysis, this study explains how a teacher's situated knowledge influences their decision‐making when adopting specific affordances. The findings of this self‐study generate a unique type of knowledge, bridging the gap between theoretical usefulness and practical relevance in technology use. It sheds light on the significance of considering teachers' situatedness, their judgment, and their capacity to enhance classroom experiences. Through this self‐study, a practicality framework is developed, providing practitioners with an evidence base to examine their everyday use of technology. This line of self‐study scholarship rethinks and reframes educational research, highlighting the contemporary realities of teaching and learning. It offers an in‐depth understanding of how and why practitioners adopt specific digital affordances based on what they consider important. The article concludes with several critical implications for practitioners, policymakers, and academic researchers. Future research is recommended to explore collaborative self‐studies and studies across different curricula or various educational settings. Alternatively, nonreductive data analysis and other theoretical perspectives can be explored.

고등학교 수학교사의 디지털·AI 교육과정 실천 사례: 생태학적 교사 행위주체성에 기반한 탐색

With the advent of the era of digital transformation, digital·AI-related policies are being actively promoted in the curriculum. This study aims to explore high school mathematics teachers’ practice of digital·AI curriculum based on ecological approach to teacher agency. For this, interviews were conducted with four high school mathematics teachers, focused on the following research questions: 1) How do high school mathematics teachers practice the digital·AI curriculum? 2) What are the factors that influence high school mathematics teachers’ practice of the digital·AI curriculum? The results of the study showed that high school mathematics teachers practiced the digital·AI curriculum, showing various teacher agency, ranging from neutral·critical acceptance, passive practice, and proactive implementation. In addition, these various practices are influenced by personal factors (prior experience or knowledge, beliefs to mathematics classes, recognition to future competencies) and contextual factors (school environment, attitudes of mathematics teachers at the same school, teacher learning community). This study discusses the usefulness and value of ecological approach to teacher agency in interpreting mathematics teachers’ curriculum practice, and suggests the need for structural, environmental, cultural support to enable teachers' autonomous and independent practice of the digital·AI curriculum.

개념적 렌즈를 활용한 사회과 수업 연구

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities and challenges of how the use of conceptual lenses can change social studies instruction for deeper learning as envisioned by the 2022 revised curriculum. To this end, preservice teachers designed and demonstrated lessons based on the theory of concept-based learning. The results showed that social studies lessons using conceptual lenses were challenging due to problems of alignment of achievement standards and conceptual lenses, difficulties in creating guiding questions and differences between lesson design and lesson implementation. However, the usefulness of conceptual lenses was found by capturing the transfer of learning in lessons and strengthening the agency of teachers and learners. The significance of this study is that it analyzed the use of ‘conceptual lens’ as a concrete way to realize a social studies classroom where synergistic thinking and transferable learning occur. This study recommends further research on '‘concepts’ that can be utilized as conceptual lenses for practical changes in social studies classrooms.