Theorizing and Analyzing Language Teacher Agency

Hayriye Kayi-Aydar, Xuesong (Andy) Gao, Elizabeth R. Miller, Manka Varghese, Gergana Vitanova, Hayriye Kayi-Aydar, Xuesong (Andy) Gao, Elizabeth R. Miller, Manka Varghese, Gergana Vitanova, Dr. Xuesong (Andy) Gao, Dr. Manka Varghese

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781788923903
• eBook ISBN:
  9781788923934
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

This volume examines the agency of second/foreign language teachers in diverse geographical contexts and in both K-12 and adult education. It offers new understandings and conceptualizations of second/foreign language teacher agency through a variety of types of empirical data. It also demonstrates the use of different methodologies or analytic tools to study the multidimensional, dynamic and complex nature of second/foreign language teacher agency. The chapters draw on a range of theories and approaches to language teacher agency (including ecological theory, positioning theory, complexity theory and actor-network theory) that expand our understanding of the concept, while at the same time presenting various analytic approaches such as discourse studies and narrative inquiry. The chapters also analyze the connection of agency to other relevant topics, such as teacher identity, emotions, positioning and autonomy.

1 Introduction

Hayriye Kayi-Aydar, Xuesong (Andy) Gao, Elizabeth R. Miller, Manka Varghese and Gergana Vitanova

This volume relates to a series of efforts to understand language teacher agency in shifting educational contexts (e.g. Miller et al., 2018; Ng & Boucher-Yip, 2017). As teachers engage in innovative teaching practices, adapt themselves to changing situations, meet expectations and requirements in their work environment and implement policies, they ‘exercise’ agency to make choices and decisions. Through practices and ‘particular ecological conditions and circumstances’ (Biesta et al., 2015: 626) that support teacher agency, teachers claim professionalism and continue professional development (Charteris & Smardon, 2015; Soini et al., 2015; Toom et al., 2015). Thus, as Biesta et al. (2015: 624) argue, ‘teacher agency is an indispensable element of good and meaningful education’.

We recognize teacher agency as relational, social and contextual rather than an individual trait, possession or competence; ‘it is constructed situationally in relation to the current context’ (Toom et al., 2015: 616) and social relations, and it is shaped by a myriad of factors, which can be personal (e.g. motivation, beliefs, desires, past experience, future aspirations and personal goals) and contextual. While contextual factors, such as dominant discourses, power and hierarchies, conflicts, tensions and dilemmas among others may prevent teachers from engaging in acts and actions that they desire, the very same discourses and factors may push teachers to engage in acts of resisting, challenging and criticizing, thereby promoting teacher agency. Teacher agency is therefore unpredictable and contextually complex. Soini et al. (2015: 651) highlight the importance of facilitating all contributing factors, from personal to contextual, simultaneously to promote professional agency in the classroom environment, arguing that ‘the development of professional agency cannot be explained and is hence reduced to a single behavioral attribute’. Very much like teacher identities, which are considered multiple and dynamic (Akkerman & Meijer, 2011), teacher agency is constantly evolving and located in dialogic relationships with institutions, learners and other key stakeholders.

A recent special issue on teacher agency published in Teachers and Teaching has offered important insights regarding teacher agency in relation to beliefs (Biesta et al., 2015), perceptions of teacher education (Soini et al., 2015), pedagogical practices and social management of classroom (Eteläpelto et al., 2015), as well as characteristics of teachers as change agents (van der Heijden et al., 2015). A few other studies in the issue also examined teacher agency in the context of educational reform and policy mandate (e.g. Buchanan, 2015; Stillman & Anderson, 2015). In our field of second/foreign language education, perhaps the initial comprehensive work on language teacher agency has been the collection co-edited by Ng and Boucher-Yip (2017). This co-edited volume consists of studies conducted in numerous settings where English is taught as a second/foreign language and it examines ‘the agency of the teacher in negotiating educational reforms and policy changes at the local and national levels’ (Ng & Boucher-Yip, 2017: 2). Another recent special issue, which four of the co-editors of this book have co-edited, has recently been published in System and includes numerous studies that take an interdisciplinary approach to examine language teacher agency in different pedagogical contexts (Miller et al., 2018).

While this growing body of work on (language) teacher agency helps us better understand what professional teacher agency might look like, there is still much to learn about how different teaching contexts and diverse communities may affect the ways language teachers exercise agency. This is especially true for second language teachers or teachers of additional languages given that they function in extremely diverse sociocultural settings. It is thus necessary to understand what contextual factors, in addition to policy and reform, can limit or enhance teachers’ agentic actions across settings and communities. Language teachers may be seen as agents of change in their own learners’ lives, or even as individuals of conformity who might struggle with various institutional constraints. Moreover, because they often teach language-minoritized groups, teachers’ own subjectivities and intersectional identities (mainly around language and race) especially in relation to those of their students are key to understanding how their agency develops and is manifested.

Building on previous work on (language) teacher agency and in an effort to theorize and expand understandings of language teacher agency, in this edited volume, numerous authors offer empirical and conceptual work that focuses on different dimensions of language teacher agency as well as factors that shape or contribute to it. As we began this project, one of our primary concerns and goals was to understand how language teachers around the world ‘exert judgment and control over their own work’ (Biesta et al., 2015) and with their own subjectivities in the contexts of the internationalization and globalization of language education, language policies, dominant language ideologies and ideological debates, and ongoing political tensions worldwide. This volume includes authors from multiple contexts who advance our understanding of language teacher agency by focusing not primarily or mostly on adult language teaching/learning contexts but on diverse K-12 settings as well. The chapters embrace multiple theoretical perspectives such as sociocultural theory (e.g. Chapters 3 and 9), positioning theory (e.g. Chapters 2, 5, 7, 8 and 14) and ecological approaches to agency (Chapters 4, 6, 10 and 13). The diverse work in the volume thus contributes to the still limited research on language teacher agency and gives voice to many second/foreign language teachers around the world.

We hope that future research will build on the work presented here to further examine language teacher agency in relation to other social categories, which may include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identities, (dis)ability, socio-economic class, religion and their intersections. Looking at how language teachers act and reflect on their decisions and actions in numerous diverse contexts, such as online spaces, non-traditional teaching environments and professional development workshops or seminars, will help us see emerging patterns and understand the complex nature of the agency that second/foreign language teachers exercise. This work, we hope, will help create democratic learning and teaching spaces where language teachers can develop empowered identities through agentic actions in order to not only author their teaching practices but also become advocates for social justice, challenge social oppression and advance equity within minoritized language learning and teaching communities. While we celebrate the significance of teacher agency in this collected volume, we would like to urge our readers to be vigilant about the risks and dangers posed by existing macro social and political structures. Without addressing the fundamental roots of injustice and social oppression together, individual teachers’ agentic actions will not go too far. Therefore, it is extremely important for individual teachers to exercise agency in opening up pedagogical spaces for the underprivileged, but it is even more critical for us to exercise agency collectively to enforce changes at the macro sociopolitical levels and in our social consciousness.

An Overview of the Chapters

In Chapter 2, Hayriye Kayi-Aydar offers an expanded conceptualization of language teacher agency in relation to emotions and teacher identities. Drawing from the intersections of Bandura’s socio-cognitive theory of agency, an ecological approach (see also Chapters 4, 6, 10 and 13) and positioning theory (see also Chapters 5, 7, 8 and 14), Kayi-Aydar defines language teacher agency as ‘a language teacher’s intentional authority to make choices and act accordingly in his or her local context’. This chapter characterizes language teacher agency and concludes with directions for future research.

In the next chapter, Chapter 3, Aliza Fones addresses the gap in knowledge about teachers who teach English language learners (ELLs), a large and diverse group of students, in schools in the United States so that these students can have better educational opportunities. Fones explores ELL teachers’ agency in two large, linguistically diverse urban schools and the myriad of factors that might have mediated ELL teachers’ work (see also Chapter 12). In particular, Fones examines the opportunities and constraints that ELL teachers experienced when exercising agency in professional practice. Fones’ interpretation of teachers’ experiences draws our attention to the contextual and sociocultural factors that profoundly mediate ELL teachers’ agency (see also Chapter 9). It also reveals how ELL teachers worked together in teaching, highlighting the collective and collaborative nature of teacher agency (see also Chapter 6).

In Chapter 4, Kasun, Clark, Kaneria and Staker combine ecological approaches to agency and the notion of nepantla (Anzaldúa, 1987, 2002) to describe a case study of an English language teacher in a rural high school in the United States (see also Chapters 5 and 10). Based on a reflexive and introspective methodology, this study shows a teacher’s positionality in relation to her students and administration. While several major themes emerge in the reflection on her agency development, the use of narrative in her classroom is highlighted as a dominant tool in the teacher’s everyday practices. Narratives allow her to connect with her students and provide a space for learners’ creativity and reflections, on the one hand. On the other, narratives provide her with a much needed opportunity to position herself as an active agent and someone who is actively involved both with the students and administration. As an expression of teacher agency, this teacher is also instrumental in negotiating and changing the curriculum at this school setting. The findings further show that, through the use of narratives, the teacher was able to transform her students’ realities and discover agency for herself (see also Chapter 11).

Taking a critical stance on high-stakes teacher evaluation in policy and practice in US public schools in Chapter 5, Amber Warren presents a single case study of one K-12 teacher, using positioning analysis of the teacher’s narratives on high-stakes teacher evaluations implemented in her district (see also Chapters 4, 7 and 14). Warren details how her teacher-participant positioned herself as a knowledgeable expert in relation to evaluators but struggled to accomplish this positioning with her observers. Warren also describes how this teacher exercised agency to create space for teaching practices that aligned with her pedagogical ...

Table of contents

• Cover-Page
• Half-Title
• series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Language Teacher Agency: Major Theoretical Considerations, Conceptualizations and Methodological Choices
• 3 Part 1: Language Teacher Agency in K-12 Contexts
• Part 2: Language Teacher Agency in Adult ESL/EFL Contexts
• Afterword
• Index