Teacher Agency An Ecological Approach [Hardcover]

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 butTeacher Agencyprovides 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 Agencyaddresses 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.

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION: TEACHER AGENCY AND CURRICULUM CHANGE

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

CHAPTER 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 teacher's work
The iterational dimension of teachers' work
The projective dimension of teachers' work
The practical-evaluative dimension of teachers' work
Concluding comments

CHAPTER 2: TEACHER BELIEFS AND ASPIRATIONS
Introduction
Teacher beliefs: An overview of the literature
Defining teacher beliefs
Categorizing teacher beliefs
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