Teacher agency: an ecological approach

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 global 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.

Machine generated contents note: Introduction -- Focusing on the teacher: What this book is not about -- Scotland's `Curriculum for Excellence' -- Curricular structure -- Learning -- The role of teachers -- The `Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change' project -- The schools -- The teachers -- A preview of the chapters: What this book is about -- 1.Understanding Teacher Agency -- Introduction -- Conceptualizing agency -- Theorizing agency: An ecological approach -- Understanding teacher agency -- A framework for understanding teacher agency -- The iterational, practical-evaluative and projective aspects of teachers' work -- The iterational dimension of teachers' work -- The projective dimension of teachers' work -- The practical-evaluative dimension of teachers' work -- Concluding comments -- 2.Teacher Beliefs and Aspirations -- Introduction -- Teacher beliefs: An overview of the literature -- Denning teacher beliefs -- Categorizing teacher beliefs -- Beliefs and context

Note continued: The formation of teacher beliefs -- Exploring teacher beliefs -- Beliefs relating to children and young people -- Beliefs about the role of the teacher -- Beliefs about educational purpose -- Discuss…