Teachers’ professional agency in contradictory times

Teachers’ agency: Do their values make a difference?

“…There is an emerging tendency to acknowledge the importance of teachers’ agency (Lipponen & Kumpulainen, ; Biesta et al ., ), especially their active involvement in directing and designing their teaching practice (Quinn & Carl, ; Van der Heijden et al ., ). Researchers find teachers’ agency advances student learning and facilitates their own professional development (Toom et al ., ). The study of teachers’ agency is important, given the current tension between professionalism and the movement towards standardisation, which reduces teachers’ autonomy and control (Wills & Sandholtz, ; Van der Heijden et al ., ; Oolbekkink‐Marchand, Hadar, Smith, Helleve & Ulvik, ), with many responding to the need for research in the area (e.g.…”

“…The study of teachers' agency is important, given the current tension between professionalism and the movement towards standardisation, which reduces teachers' autonomy and control (Wills & Sandholtz, 2009;Van der Heijden et al, 2015;Oolbekkink-Marchand, Hadar, Smith, Helleve & Ulvik, 2017), with many responding to the need for research in the area (e.g. Buchanan, 2015;Priestley et al, 2015a;Toom et al, 2015).…”

«Det handler om å finne sin egen form» Læreres profesjonelle handlingsrom - hvordan det blir forstått og utnyttet

“…Laereres utnyttelse av sitt profesjonelle handlingsrom viser seg å ha stor betydning for å forstå hvilke prosesser som ligger til grunn for elevers laering og for skoleutvikling (Toom, Pyhältö & O'Connell Rust, 2015; Van der Heijden, Geldens, Beijaard & Popeijus, 2015). Utviklingen de siste tiårene har vaert preget av en utdanningspolitikk som kan karakteriseres som en epidemi av forandringer (Priestley, Edwards & Priestley, 2012).…”

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

“…In teacher education, teacher agency has been considered a key capacity for promoting student learning, teachers’ professional development, and social justice as well as supporting teacher autonomy in implementing curricular and pedagogical reforms in schools (Toom, Pyhältö, & Rust, ; Varelas, Settlage, & Mensah, ). It is characterized as “teachers’ active efforts to make choices and intentional action in a way that makes a significant difference” (Toom et al, , p. 615). Biesta and coworkers employ an ecological approach to studying teacher agency in curriculum reform settings (Biesta, Priestley, & Robinson, ; Biesta & Tedder, ; Priestley, Biesta, & Robinson, ).…”