Understanding Rural School Teachers’ Professional Agency and Its Relationship to Social Structure

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8923628
AutoresGuoyuan Sang (0000-0003-2684-0182, Beijing Normal University), Jiali Huang (0000-0001-7514-4365, Beijing Normal University, autor correspondente), Tzu-Yang Chao (0000-0002-5049-5836, National Taiwan Normal University), Tzuyang Chao (National Taiwan Normal University), Bixin Ye (0000-0001-6450-7714, Beijing Normal University), Abdulghani Muthanna (0000-0001-5843-6964, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
Ano2022
Volume59
Fascículo1
Páginas30-47
Data de publicação2022-04-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEducational Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0013-1946 • E-ISSN: 1532-6993
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00131946.2022.2051033
OpenAlexW4224310160
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas48

Research on the role of teacher agency has been growing significantly during the last decade. Agentic teachers act purposefully and constructively to direct their professional development and contribute to the quality of education, especially in rural areas. Professional development is mutually constituted between teachers and socio-cultural conditions (e.g., circumstances, physical artifacts, power relations, and school cultures) that constrain or enable their agency. This study explored teacher professional agency, and its relationship to teacher perceived social structure, using two newly developed scales: (1) the Teacher Professional Agency (TPA) and (2) the Teacher-Perceived Social Structure (TPSS). A total number of 592 teachers working at rural schools in western China completed the questionnaire. The findings revealed that the two scales were valid and reliable instruments for measuring teacher professional agency, and teacher perceived social structure. Findings show a modestly-moderately correlation between teachers’ professional identity and their perceived social identity. Collegial relationships, followed by school climate and social identity, have the strongest impact on teachers’ professional agency

Agency (philosophy · Identity (music · Pedagogy · Professional development · Social science · Sociology · Structure and agency · Teacher education · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Psychology · Service-Learning and Community Engagement · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies