Language Teacher Agency

Abstract

This Element aims to elucidate the concept of language teacher agency by exploring the 'what' question, offering major conceptualisations of agency and explaining how they shape the way we approach teacher agency. The authors then continue with the 'why' question, and elaborate on the reasons that language teacher agency matters, based on a discussion of the varied purposes of teacher agency at multiple levels. They also acknowledge that teacher agency does not operate alone, and discuss how it intersects with such concepts as teacher identity, emotion, belief and knowledge. Based on this, they identify ways to promote teacher agency through making changes to contexts and/or actors. They then introduce the concept of collective agency and propose a multi-layered model based on an illustrative study. The Element ends with a call for a trans-perspective on understanding language teacher agency so as to facilitate the professional development of language teachers.

English Language Teacher Agency in Response to Curriculum Reform in China: An Ecological Approach

“…Notably, schools at the meso level interact with national educational policy, social ideologies, students' anticipations, and teachers' agency in a very complex way. Highly hierarchical school systems usually have close ties with less individual autonomy, which might be seen as a key competency of agency (Tao and Gao, 2021 ). Wang's constrained state of agency was largely accountable to her school context, where the regime of examination accountability prevailed and was dominant, while inadequate learning opportunities and professional help were offered.…”

“…The ecological perspective has been considered an effective approach for understanding the phenomenon of one's agency not only in context but also in one's life history (Tao and Gao, 2021 ). This model offers a more explicit ecological approach to teacher agency that constitutes both a methodological and a theoretical framework for empirical inquiry that relates to the approaches by which teachers achieve agency in practice.…”

“…Teachers' agentic actions toward educational change are always mediated by the sociocultural contexts in which they are situated. Sociocultural contexts are reflected not only in classroom teaching, school conditions, and local communities but also in educational policy mandates, the promotion of ideological discourses, and changes in assessment practice that can either enable or hinder teachers' agency enactment (Lasky, 2005 ; Priestley et al, 2015 ; Poulton, 2020 ; Tao and Gao, 2021 ). For example, Liyanage et al ( 2015 ) identified the struggles and dilemmas experienced by English language teachers in their attempts to exercise agency amid the instructional demands of the exam-oriented community in Inner Mongolia in China.…”

When City Meets Rural: Exploring Pre-Service Teachers’ Identity Construction When Teaching in Rural Schools

“…In this process, agency plays a crucial role in a teacher’s identity construction and professional development (Buchanan, 2015; Cobb et al, 2018; Tao & Gao, 2017; Ye & Zhao, 2019). Agency can provide a powerful lens to examining teachers’ varying perceptions, decisions, and actions in the shifting educational landscape (Tao & Gao, 2021, p. 4).…”

Commentary: Understanding ESL Teachers' Agency in Their Early Years of Professional Development: A Three-Layered Triadic Reciprocity Framework

“…By reviewing the literature on language teacher agency, Tao and Gao ( 2021 ) underline that research applying the social cognitive theorization of agency to teacher agency remains limited and normally a quantitative design is adopted. However, since the dynamic (Imants and Van der Wal, 2020 ) and contextualized (Lasky, 2005 ) nature of teacher agency can't be ignored, a sociocultural approach is much needed for understanding the complex change process of teacher agency.…”