Understanding Teacher Agency

• In Event: Studying Teacher Knowledge: Innovations in Methodology

Abstract

In recent years, new forms of national curriculum have placed an emphasis on teachers as developers of curriculum and as agents of change. However, there has been little research or theory development in the area of teacher agency. Our paper draws upon ethnographic research and sociological theory relating to agency. The study aims to develop an understanding of factors that impact upon teacher agency in contexts of educational change, and trial a set of methodologies for identifying the factors that impact upon teacher decision making. In our paper we will focus on biographical and ecological factors that shape the exercise of teachers’ agency as they enact Scotland’s new Curriculum for Excellence, a good example of this new breed of curriculum).

Authors

• Mark Priestley, University of Stirling

• Gert J. Biesta, University of Luxembourg

• Sarah Robinson, University of Stirling