Teacher Agency

When decision-making power is granted, it usually aligns with external policy objectives.

“When granted, decision-making power usually aligns with external policy objectives (Priestley et al. 2015).”

Teachers often implement policies devised by others, with their expertise overlooked and their learning constrained, affecting their agency.

“Consequently, teachers often implement policies devised by others, with their expertise overlooked and their learning constrained (Smith 2017), affecting their agency (Campbell 2015, Priestley et al. 2015).”

Studies employing ecological frameworks for curriculum work have generated knowledge about how educators approach curriculum creation in their immediate settings, showing multifaceted relationships between teacher knowledge, professional values, and contextual influences.

“Studies employing ecological frameworks for curriculum work (Priestley et al. 2021; Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson 2015) have generated important knowledge about how educators approach curriculum creation in their immediate settings, demonstrating the multifaceted relationships between teacher knowledge, professional values, and contex­ tual influences.”

Priestley et al. (2015) summarise three contrasting ways of articulating teacher agency: agency as a variable, agency as capacity and agency as a phenomenon.

“Priestley et al. (2015) summarise three contrasting ways of articulating teacher agency: agency as a variable, agency as capacity and agency as a phenomenon (p.20).”

Teacher agency is understood as being dependent on conditions and qualities, including cultural, material, relational resources and people's ability to use them.

“Secondly, teacher agency is understood as being dependent on conditions and qualities, including cultural, material, relational resources and people's ability to use them.”

Much recent research which considers teacher agency has drawn on the ecological approach articulated by Priestley et al. (2015).

“Much recent research (e.g.Erss, 2018;Leijen et al., 2020) which considers teacher agency has drawn on the ecological approach articulated by Priestley et al. (2015).”

This socio-cultural conceptualisation of teacher agency understands agency as an emergent phenomenon, not the capacity of an individual; agency is something that people achieve or do, not what people possess.

“This socio-cultural conceptualisation of teacher agency understands agency as an emergent phenomenon, not the capacity of an individual, agency is something that people achieve or do, not what people possess.”

Teacher agency as a phenomenon is part of a socio-cultural approach where agency has a temporal quality which is dynamic, that is to say, agency changes over time.

“Finally, understanding teacher agency as a phenomenon is part of a socio-cultural approach (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998;Giddens, 1984) where agency has a temporal quality which is dynamic, that is to say, agency changes over time (Priestley et al., 2015).”

Teacher agency is recognised as temporal-informed by the past, oriented towards the future and enacted in the present.

“Thirdly, teacher agency is recognised as temporal-informed by the past, oriented towards the future and enacted in the present (Priestley et al., 2015).”

Understandings of space as complex, always changing, as a verb are consistent with conceptualisations of teacher agency as an emergent phenomenon, something which teachers do, rather than possess and which are both dynamic and temporal.

“These understandings of space as complex, always changing, as a verb (Horton & Kraftl, 2006) are consistent with conceptualisations of teacher agency as an emergent phenomenon, something which teachers do, rather than possess and which are both dynamic and temporal (Priestley et al., 2015).”

The importance of social and material contexts in shaping and constraining teacher agency is made explicit in the ecological approach to teacher agency.

“The importance of social and material contexts in shaping and constraining teacher agency is made explicit in the ecological approach to teacher agency (Priestley et al., 2015).”

The temporal dimension of agency is already explicit in the ecological approach to teacher agency.

“The temporal dimension of agency is already explicit in the ecological approach to teacher agency (Priestley et al., 2015).”