Teacher Agency: An Ecological Approach

Description

Recent worldwide education policy has reinvented teachers as agents of change and professional developers of the school curriculum. Academic literature has analyzed changes in how teacher professionalism is conceived in policy and in practice but Teacher Agency provides a fresh perspective on this issue, drawing upon an ecological theory of agency. Using this model for understanding agency, Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson explore empirical findings from the 'Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change' project, funded by the UK-based Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Drawing together this research with the authors' international experiences and perspectives, Teacher Agency addresses theoretical and practical issues of international significance. The authors illustrate how teacher agency should be understood not only in terms of individual capacity of teachers, but also in respect of the cultures and structures of schooling.

Mark Priestley is Professor of Education in the School of Education at the University of Stirling, UK. He is an elected member of the Council of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), and Co-Convenor of the European Educational Research Association Curriculum Development Network. Gert Biesta is Professor of Public Education at the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy at Maynooth University, Ireland; NIVOZ Professor for Education at the University of Humanistic Studies, The Netherlands; and Professorial Fellow for Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, UK. He is co-editor of the British Educational Research Journal and associate editor of Educational Theory. Sarah Robinson is Associate Professor at the Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media in the Faculty of Arts at Aarhus University, Denmark.

I was so pleased to find that the authors argue that teacher autonomy is not enough. Rather, we need to focus on teacher agency and the conditions in which it can be accomplished. Agentic learners need agentic teachers who can respond, stimulate and challenge. This thoughtful book helps you see why and what can be done to get there. It is a compelling read with messages for everyone working in education. * Anne Edwards, Professor Emerita, University of Oxford, UK * This book significantly contributes to our understanding of teachers' professional agency. The authors follow different lines to make clear what teacher agency entails, among which data from their own empirical research on teachers in the context of a large-scale educational reform. Their conceptualization of teacher agency is an interactive one with relevant implications for the whole educational system and on all its levels. Teacher Agency is a book that should be read by all who wish teachers to be active and engaged participants in such a system and, through that, can really make the difference. * Douwe Beijaard, Professor of Professional Learning and Dean of the Eindhoven School of Education (ESoE) of the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands *