Make It Make Sense: What Veteran SBAE Teachers Reveal About Policy, Practice and Professional Agency

• In Event: Examining the Experiences of Career and Technical Education Teachers and Workforce Professionals

Abstract

This phenomenological study explores how veteran School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers perceive and enact their agency in navigating educational policy. Grounded in the Teacher Agency Model, two focus groups with seven SBAE teachers revealed five themes: limited policy awareness and understanding, teacher agency and advocacy practices, institutional barriers and structural constraints, stakeholder and community engagement, and emotional and professional tensions. Findings show that while teachers lacked formal policy training, they demonstrated agency through informal advocacy, community partnerships, and persistence despite institutional barriers. This research contributes to teacher agency, leadership and Career and Technical Education literature by highlighting SBAE teachers as often overlooked policy actors.

Authors

• Demikia Taylor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

• Tiffany Drape, Virginia Tech