School-University Partnerships as Settings to Cultivate Teacher Agency

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: School-University Partnership Research Roundtable: Creating Space and Agency (Table 8)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine how school-university partnerships can support teachers as agentic professionals. Agency is fundamental to the work of all professionals, so we argue that any attempt to reform education must consider the roots and outcomes of teacher agency. From our investigation of teacher agency and SUPs, we present a summary of evidence focused on 1) a synthesis of terms and definitions associated with teacher agency; 2) the factors that support teacher agency and ways teacher agency is manifested; 3) the impact of agency on the professional lives of teachers and the consequent impact on the lived experiences of students; and 4) ways school-university partnerships create a context for the development and exercise of agency.

Authors

• Kathy Thompson, University of Georgia

• Janna Dresden, University of Georgia