EMSs' Agency in Relation to Their Autonomy and Professional Space

• In Event: The Work of Elementary Mathematics Specialists: Findings From the STEAM Project

Abstract

Purpose. In this poster, we explore how teachers’ perceptions of their professional space—boundaries of working context in which they are able to act according to their goals (Oolbekkink-Marchand et al., 2017)—and autonomy—perception of being in control (Vangrieken et al., 2017)—shape their achievement of agency. Specifically, we draw on surveys of 53 teachers to explore their perceived professional space, especially in relation to their autonomy, and what these perceptions reveal about the agency of individual teachers.

Theoretical Framework. Teachers achieve agency by building upon knowledge and experiences (iterational dimension) to create a future (projective dimension) that is different from past and present (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998). Carried out in concrete situations, agency is achieved as teachers engage with their contexts (practical-evaluative dimension) (Biesta &Tedder, 2007). How teachers engage with their contexts, however, depends on their perceptions of the professional spaces they work. And, one factor that mediates—expands or narrows—professional space is autonomy.

Methods. For this study, we focused on two sets of survey items (Banilower et al., 2018) from the BLINDED project. The first evaluated teachers’ perceptions of 14 contextual elements (e.g., testing policies; textbook) that mediate professional space, while the second set assessed pedagogical and curricular autonomy. For the first, we consolidated the 14 items into four levels (state, district, school, students/community) and then conducted latent profile analysis, which assigned each teacher to a profile containing responses similar to their own. We also correlated the autonomy scores with the four level-factors of perceived professional space. In addition, four teachers were selected for cases and participated in five semi-structured interviews about their goals for mathematics instruction, supports and challenges for enacting that vision, and the influence of state tests and standards. We wrote memos of each teacher’s perceived professional space and autonomy and how these supported or constrained their agency. We then conducted cross-case synthesis (Yin, 2017) to look for patterns and variations across.

Results. Compared to those in the MIXED profile, teachers in SUPPORTED perceived having a more expanded professional space for accomplishing mathematics instruction. We also found a positive correlation between pedagogical autonomy and the state-level factor of perceived professional space, suggesting that greater autonomy expands the perceived space in which teachers can maneuver state policies. The four cases then revealed how agency was differently achieved under different perceptions of autonomy and professional space. For example, at the same school, Denise (MIXED) evaluated that accountability policies restricted her autonomy, while Amy (SUPPORTED) experienced an absence of external control. Such perceived autonomy expanded Amy’s professional space, allowing her to achieve agency. Denise’s perceived professional space, on the other hand, was narrowed by a lack of autonomy, constraining her agency.

Significance. Based on our findings, we suggest a model that integrates autonomy and professional space to understand the achievement of agency. Specifically, we suggest that agency is constrained by perceived professional space, where the extent to which iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective resources are exploited to achieve agency depends on teacher’s autonomy, as this mediates professional space.

Author

• Phi Nguyen, University of Missouri