teacher agency

Background: Teacher agency is essential to educational transformation, yet teacher development in Nepal often relies on standardized training approaches that emphasize prescribed methods rather than critical reflection, contextual experimentation, and collaborative learning. Objectives: This study explores how teachers develop and exercise agency through Critical–Creative Pedagogy (CCP) and participatory action research in two Nepali public-school contexts. Methods: Using a participatory action research approach, the study examined two contexts: a cross-school initiative involving 11 teachers from eight public schools in Helambu and a school-based initiative involving 30 teachers at Janata Secondary School in Bardibas. Data were generated over nine months through workshop interactions, teacher reflections, lesson plans, classroom observations, reflective dialogues, and informal conversations with students. The analysis examined how reflection, dialogue, classroom experimentation, and collective professional learning contributed to the development of teacher agency. Results: The findings indicate that teacher agency developed through iterative cycles of reflection, action, observation, dialogue, and re-reflection rather than through standardized training alone. Teachers began questioning textbook-centred and examination-driven practices and experimenting with learning activities grounded in students’ experiences and local contexts. Contextual adaptation and engagement with the wider school community, including school management committees and parents, emerged as important dimensions of pedagogical change. The Bardibas initiative appeared to foster stronger shared reflection, mutual support, and continuity of pedagogical change than the cross-school arrangement in Helambu. Conclusion: Teacher agency is a relational and context-dependent process that develops through critical reflection, pedagogical experimentation, and collaborative learning. Sustaining educational transformation requires professional learning opportunities that connect teachers’ agency with local knowledge, school-level collaboration, and community engagement. Novelty: By examining participatory action research across two distinct school contexts, this study highlights how the institutional setting of teacher collaboration may shape opportunities for collective reflection, mutual support, and sustained pedagogical change. It also foregrounds the importance of connecting teacher learning with school and community contexts in efforts to transform classroom practice.

This study investigates how a novice EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher enacts professional identity within the context of reading instruction. While prior research has established the dynamic and multifaceted nature of teacher identity, limited attention has been given to how professional identity is constructed and enacted through subject-specific pedagogical practices, particularly in reading instruction. This qualitative case study draws on interview and classroom observation data to explore how a novice EFL teacher enacts professional identities in reading instruction. The findings suggest that the teacher’s professional identity is not a fixed set of roles but is expressed through situated teaching practices and professional reflections. Specifically, three interrelated identity positions were identified—facilitator of meaning-making, cultural and textual guide, and reflective learner. These positions were reflected in instructional practices such as scaffolding, interpretive questioning, and the provision of cultural and textual background knowledge, as well as in the teacher’s willingness to learn from students and engage in professional development. Furthermore, the findings highlight the relationship between the teacher’s professional identity, individual agency, and the working conditions of her teaching context. By situating teacher identity within the practices of reading instruction, this study extends existing research by foregrounding the practice-based and context-sensitive nature of novice teacher identity. An Activity Theory perspective further informs the interpretation of how professional identity relates to pedagogical practices, instructional tools, and contextual conditions.

This study explores how teachers interpret and adapt professional learning practices to align with their contextual needs and professional beliefs, with an emphasis on teacher ownership. It investigates how pedagogical coaching can support teachers in taking ownership of pedagogical principles and practices within the framework of agency, identity, and the zone of enactment. The research employs a qualitative case study of two teachers at a U.S. urban elementary school, who implemented the Enduring Principles of Learning (EPL) framework with the support of a pedagogical coach. Data analysis from video-recorded coaching sessions and teacher-student instructional conversations revealed that the teachers effectively enacted and took ownership of two EPL principles: Instructional Conversation and Critical Stance. The findings highlight the importance of integrating agency, identity, and the zone of enactment as a theoretical framework to better support teachers in owning their professional learning processes.

این مطالعه به بررسی نحوه تفسیر و تطبیق شیوه‌های یادگیری حرفه‌ای توسط معلمان به منظور همسویی با نیازهای زمینه‌ای و باورهای حرفه‌ای آنان، با تأکید بر مالکیت معلم، می‌پردازد. پژوهش حاضر بررسی می‌کند که چگونه کوچینگ آموزشی می‌تواند از معلمان در به‌دست‌آوردن مالکیت اصول و شیوه‌های آموزشی در چارچوب عاملیت، هویت و منطقه اجرا حمایت کند. این پژوهش از روش مطالعه موردی کیفی بر روی دو معلم در یک دبستان شهری ایالات متحده استفاده کرده است که چارچوب اصول پایدار یادگیری (EPL) را با حمایت یک کوچ آموزشی اجرا کردند. تحلیل داده‌ها از جلسات کوچینگ ضبط‌شده و گفتگوهای آموزشی معلم-دانش‌آموز نشان داد که معلمان به طور مؤثری دو اصل EPL یعنی «گفتگوی آموزشی» و «رویکرد انتقادی» را اجرا و مالکیت آن‌ها را به دست آوردند. یافته‌ها بر اهمیت ادغام عاملیت، هویت و منطقه اجرا به عنوان یک چارچوب نظری برای حمایت بهتر از معلمان در تملک فرایندهای یادگیری حرفه‌ای خود تأکید می‌کند.

The Project Approach (PA), a Western-originated pedagogical method, has been a school-based curriculum strategy in mainland Chinese kindergartens for decades. However, empirical studies on its implementation are scarce. This study (1) develops a conceptual model of PA implementation in Chinese kindergartens and (2) identifies key considerations for its formation, using the Engagement Model as a theoretical framework. Qualitative data were collected from 26 teachers across seven independent kindergartens via interviews, school documents, and classroom observations. Findings revealed a localized PA model integrating teacher-guided structure with child-initiated exploration—an intermediate form between traditional teacher-directed instruction and fully student-centred inquiry. Key implementation considerations included teaching environment (student characteristics, available resources, and school requirements), teacher agency (bandwidth and subject knowledge), and goal attainment (student progress, professional development, and teaching satisfaction). This study clarifies how the PA can be adapted in non-Western educational contexts and offers a transferable reference and toolkit for localizing PA across cultures.

رویکرد پروژه (PA)، که روشی آموزشی با منشأ غربی است، برای دهه‌ها به عنوان یک راهبرد برنامه‌درسی مبتنی بر مدرسه در مهدکودک‌های سرزمین اصلی چین به کار رفته است. با این حال، مطالعات تجربی درباره اجرای آن اندک است. این پژوهش (۱) یک مدل مفهومی از اجرای رویکرد پروژه در مهدکودک‌های چین توسعه می‌دهد و (۲) ملاحظات کلیدی برای شکل‌گیری آن را با استفاده از مدل مشارکت به عنوان چارچوب نظری شناسایی می‌کند. داده‌های کیفی از ۲۶ معلم در هفت مهدکودک مستقل از طریق مصاحبه، اسناد مدرسه و مشاهده کلاس جمع‌آوری شد. یافته‌ها نشان دادند که یک مدل بومی‌شده از رویکرد پروژه شکل گرفته است که ساختار هدایت‌شده توسط معلم را با کاوش آغازشده توسط کودک تلفیق می‌کند—شکلی میانی میان آموزش سنتی معلم‌محور و پژوهش کاملاً دانش‌آموزمحور. ملاحظات کلیدی اجرای این رویکرد شامل محیط آموزشی (ویژگی‌های دانش‌آموزان، منابع موجود و الزامات مدرسه)، عاملیت معلم (ظرفیت و دانش موضوعی) و تحقق اهداف (پیشرفت دانش‌آموز، توسعه حرفه‌ای و رضایت از تدریس) بود. این پژوهش روشن می‌کند که چگونه رویکرد پروژه می‌تواند در زمینه‌های آموزشی غیرغربی بومی‌سازی شود و مرجع و جعبه‌ابزاری قابل انتقال برای بومی‌سازی این رویکرد در فرهنگ‌های مختلف ارائه می‌دهد.