Teacher Mediated Agency in Educational Reform in China

Yang, Hongzhi

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15925-6

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Li et al, 2016;Zhang and Pang, 2016). Moreover, China's particular combination of system size and socio-cultural norms create a unique context for enacting leadership aimed at fostering TPL (Tang et al, 2014;Walker and Qian, 2015;Yang, 2015;Yin et al, 2014). Thus, the research has potential to make contributions to leadership research and practice both in China and globally.…”

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confidence: 99%

Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China: does trust matter?

Liu

Hallinger

Feng

2016

Journal of Educational Admin

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Purpose -In this era of global education reform, teacher professional learning (TPL) has emerged as a key factor in efforts to create sustainable school improvement. The same holds in Mainland China where ambitious curriculum reforms have been undertaken since 2000. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of learning-centered leadership (LCL) and teacher trust (TT) in fostering TPL in Chinese schools. More specifically, the authors examined two research questions: (1) What is the nature of the relationship of LCL to TT and professional learning?; and (2) How LCL practices influence TT and professional learning. Design/methodology/approach -The study employed a cross-sectional survey design. The authors collected survey data from 1,259 teachers in 41 primary and secondary schools in three different Chinese provinces. The research employed confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the measurement model and structural equation modeling to examine interactions among the three main variables. Findings -The results affirmed a positive association between LCL and TPL, and highlighted TT as a significant mediator in this relationship. Additional analyses distinguished between the effects of different dimensions of LCL on TT and TPL. Although the results of these analyses were broadly consistent with prior findings reported in the literature, divergent findings also emerged. More specifically, there was a limited use and no significant impact of "leadership modeling" on either TT or professional learning.Research limitations/implications -The authors suggest that this pattern of leadership practice is linked with features of China's institutional cum socio-cultural context. The authors recommend the use of qualitative and mixed methods studies capable of gaining further insight into relationships. Practical implications -These findings in Mainland China reaffirm the efficacy of school-level leadership that builds a safe, trusting but focussed environment for teacher learning in the workplace. This is a potentially significant finding in a society where the use of top-down directives and reliance on legitimate authority by leaders can rob teachers of the motivation and initiative that undergirds sustainable professional learning. The findings, in concert with those of other scholars, suggest that "building trust" represents a useful strategy for principals who seek to establish productive learning environments for their teachers. Originality/value -The value of this study lies in two areas. First, this is one of a growing but still limited set of quantitative empirical studies of school leadership in Mainland China. Second, the study tests the nature of mediation in the relationship between leadership, trust and TPL, a topic of relatively recent vintage in the educational leadership literature.

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confidence: 99%

Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China: does trust matter?

Liu

Hallinger

Feng

2016

Journal of Educational Admin

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“…This study shows how CLIL teacher agency changes dynamically reflecting the teachers' experienced challenges. It also suggests the sociocultural understanding of teacher agency, in the sense that it is not a straightforward issue that can be understood merely as a personality trait of an individual teacher or as a predictable reaction to existing contextual factors (Yang, 2015). Accordingly, both individual and contextual aspects are entwined in the complex experiences of agency of CLIL teachers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rapidly changing educational contexts set continuous demands on teachers who are the actual implementers of educational policies in the classroom. For these reasons, teachers' roles and agency have become central issues in education and educational research (Yang, 2015). It is therefore crucial that research actively seeks to understand CLIL teachers' voices to better understand the challenges of their work (Moate, 2011b).…”

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confidence: 99%

CLIL Challenges: Secondary School CLIL Teachers’ Voices and Experienced Agency in Three European Contexts

Skinnari¹

2020

JPLL

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This qualitative interview study focuses on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teacher agency in three European contexts, Austria, Finland and Andalusia, Spain. The aim of the study is to understand how individual CLIL teachers experience their agency when encountering challenges in their work and to demonstrate the multifaceted quality of their agency. The study employs the Listening Guide method (Gilligan, 2015) to listen to the voices of three secondary school subject teachers from three diverse contexts. The analysis shows that CLIL challenges both empowered and disempowered the teachers depending on how meaningful they found their work and what their possibilities to act were in their specific contexts. Some of the teachers’ CLIL experiences were similar, for instance, struggling alone with lack of support. However, these challenges did not affect the teachers’ agency in a straightforward way. In spite of the seemingly comparable challenges, the teachers described their unique experiences and ways to cope with the demands of their work in different ways. For example, using two languages or making their own materials was for some invigorating and for others problematic. In addition, during the interviews individual teachers also reported about their experiences in various ways, explaining, elaborating and balancing their thoughts with varying expressions of agency. Particularly significant for the teachers’ experiences of agency appeared to be the beginning of their CLIL career, however, their initial experiences of agency did not endure. The study shows that CLIL teacher agency is multivoiced, dynamic and often vulnerable.

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“…Similarly, Berry (2006) found that teachers adapted their writing instruction in ways that connected with their implicit theories about teaching, learning, and disability. While the relationship between beliefs and actions is deemed as cause-effect, Yang (2015) suggests that this relationship may be reciprocal. In other words, beliefs and practices inform each other.…”

Section: Teacher Beliefs Knowledge and Challenges Related To Writing ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A rationale for integrating writing into secondary content area classrooms: Perspectives from teachers who experience the benefits of integrating writing frequently

Carter

Townsend

2022

Journal of Writing Research

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Teachers navigate ongoing accountability pressures that target writing in each content area, yet little is understood about their experiences with or their rationales for integrating writing into content area lessons. While previous research describes writing in U.S. secondary classrooms and explains barriers to writing integration, this study investigates teacher decision making to determine why teachers in various content areas are integrating writing. Using a multicase study design, we explored teacher reflections to discern the reasons why teachers chose to integrate writing frequently. Four teachers, one from each primary content area (mathematics, English language arts, science, social studies), reflected on their writing integration over one quarter. Findings revealed that teachers who integrate writing frequently value the substantial benefits of regular writing for their students. Teachers saw that frequent writing led to students both producing written products more independently and deepening their disciplinary understandings. Teachers also saw benefits to their own pedagogy; specifically, they better understood students' learning processes and planned more attentively. This research suggests that committing to frequent writing integration can (1) enhance students' writing and disciplinary knowledge, and (2) enrich teacher knowledge related to supporting students' writing practices and using writing as a tool for learning in the content areas. Our findings also highlight the complex relationship between teacher beliefs and teacher practice. By looking at the instructional decision making of teachers who integrate writing frequently, we offer guidance on how pre-and in-service teachers might use reflection in and on action to develop a commitment to writing instruction.

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Teacher Mediated Agency in Educational Reform in China

Abstract: More information about this series at

Cited by 22 publications

References 71 publications

Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China: does trust matter?

Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China: does trust matter?

CLIL Challenges: Secondary School CLIL Teachers’ Voices and Experienced Agency in Three European Contexts

A rationale for integrating writing into secondary content area classrooms: Perspectives from teachers who experience the benefits of integrating writing frequently

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