Individual and collective agencies in China's curriculum reform: A case of physics teachers

Abstract

This study explores how physics teachers in a high school negotiate the relationships between individual and collective agencies in the context of the on‐going curriculum reform in China. Drawing on Bandura's social cognitive theory, the study employs ethnographical methods including observation, interviewing, and the researcher's and teachers’ reflective journaling through the researcher's involvement with various school activities. The findings indicate that collective teacher agency creates a platform for individual teachers’ professional development, a conducive culture for teacher collaboration, and provides concrete examples that individual teachers can constantly refer to, reflect upon, and learn from for reform implementation. The results offer an understanding of the influences underlying physics teachers’ agency deployment as they engage with curriculum reform processes, especially the negotiation between individual and collective agencies. The findings justify a case for preparing physics teachers on how to deploy both individual and collective agencies in the face of the complicated social structures and ultimately shed light on the desired curriculum decentralization in the Chinese school system.

The European Conference on Education 2022: Official Conference Proceedings

“…The next popular framework adopted was Bandura's social cognitive theory (Fu & Clarke, 2018;Min, 2019). Following Bandura's definition, Min alluded to teacher agency as "intentional acts" (Min, 2019, p. 2) that are shaped in interactions with environmental and personal factors.…”

“…Teacher agency is emphasized as an individual capacity that is influenced by two factors: (1) teachers' self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and (2) the school culture in which they work. In contrast, Fu and Clarke (2018) concentrated on Bandura's concept of collective agency. Nonetheless, Fu and Clarke (2018) noted that teachers' individual and collective agency and curriculum reform "are studied as a complex system" and "neither agency nor structure is discussed without the other" (p. 48).…”

“…In contrast, Fu and Clarke (2018) concentrated on Bandura's concept of collective agency. Nonetheless, Fu and Clarke (2018) noted that teachers' individual and collective agency and curriculum reform "are studied as a complex system" and "neither agency nor structure is discussed without the other" (p. 48). Ryder et al (2018) and Willis at el.…”

“…However, the degree to which they felt autonomous seemed to vary. Teachers in Korea and China were supposedly entitled to more autonomy and influence over the curriculum (Fu & Clarke, 2018;Min, 2019), whereas teachers in Sweden and Australia appeared to have less (Bergh & Wahlström, 2018;Poulton, 2020).…”

The Use Of Digital Technologies In An English-Medium Instruction Context: A case study of Vietnamese higher education teachers and students

“…This may have prepared them for managing EMI courses to a certain extent. Collective agency provides individual teachers with an academic environment so that they can enact their individual agency to take appropriate actions (Fu & Clarke, 2019). This suggests that more opportunities for collaboration are needed to support teachers to work with other colleagues or experts to enhance the quality of teaching, especially in EMI programmes where subject teachers are in need of support to act as an active agent of change.…”