A New Concept in Teacher Identıty Research: Teacher Agency

Abstract

Teacher agency, considered as an element of teacher identity, has become a concept upon which studies have elaborated recently. However, academic research studies on this concept carried out in Turkey is highly limited. Indeed, there is not a compromise even on the Turkish equivalent of the concept. In this study, in which ‘öğretmen etkenliği’ is adopted, the issues of Turkish meaning of teacher agency, its relation with teacher identity, emergence of the concept and its definitions, its theoretical foundations, characteristics of agentic teachers, related areas of research such as educational changes and professional development, and research studies on teacher agency carried out in Turkey are elaborated on based on an extensive literature review. In addition, in the conclusion, how teacher agency can be developed is discussed in the contexts of arrangement of teachers’ work contexts, in service training and pre-service teacher education. With this study, it is aimed to offer a comprehensive source about teacher agency in Turkish to form a basis for future studies to be carried out in Turkey.

Keywords

• teacher agency
• curriculum
• professional development
• agentic teacher

Öğretmen Kimliği Araştırmalarında Yeni Bir Kavram: Öğretmen Etkenliği

Abstract

Öğretmen kimliğinin bir ögesi olarak değerlendirilen öğretmen etkenliği son yıllarda üzerinde durulan bir kavram olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, Türkiye’de bu kavram üzerine yapılmış akademik araştırmalar son derece sınırlıdır. Öyle ki kavramın Türkçesi konusunda bir fikir birliği bulunmamaktadır. Öğretmen etkenliği kavramının tercih edildiği bu çalışma kapsamında, öğretmen etkenliğinin Türkçe’ye çevrilmesi, öğretmen kimliği ile ilişkisi, kavramın ortaya çıkışı ve tanımlanması, kuramsal alt yapısı, etken öğretmenlerin özellikleri, eğitimsel değişiklikler ve mesleki gelişim gibi ilgili çalışma alanları ve Türkiye’de bu konuda yapılan araştırmalar kapsamlı bir alan yazın incelemesine dayalı olarak açıklanmıştır. Ayrıca çalışmanın sonuç bölümünde, öğretmenlerin bağlamlarının düzenlenmesi, hizmet içi eğitim ve hizmet öncesi öğretmen eğitimi kapsamlarında etkenliğin nasıl geliştirilebileceği tartışılmıştır. Bu çalışma ile öğretmen etkenliği hakkında kapsamlı bir kaynak oluşturarak Türkiye’de yapılacak çalışmalar için bir temel oluşturarak alan yazına katkı sunmak hedeflenmektedir.

Keywords

• öğretmen failliği
• öğretmen etkinliği
• eğitim programı
• mesleki gelişim
• etken öğretmen

References

1. Ahonen, E., Pyhältö, K., Pietarinen, J. ve Soini, T. (2015). Student teachers' key learning experiences – mapping the steps for becoming a professional teacher. International Journal of Higher Education, 4(1), 151-165. DOI: 10.5430/ijhe.v4n1p151
2. Allen, L.Q. (2018). Teacher leadership and the advancement of teacher agency. Foreign Language Annals, 51, 240–250. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12311
3. Alvunger, D. (2018). Teachers’ curriculum agency in teaching a standardsbased curriculum. The Curriculum Journal. DOI: 10.1080/09585176.2018.1486721
4. Anwuruddin, S.M. (2017). Methodism versus teacher agency in TESOL. D.J. Rivers ve K. Zotzmann (Ed) Isms in language education: Oppression, intersectionality and emancipation içinde. Berlin: De Gruyter.
5. Ataş Akdemir, Ö. ve Akdemir, A.S. (2019). Öğretmen aktörlüğü: Mesleki gelişimde yeni bir eğilim. Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 23(2), 865-874.
6. Ball, S.J. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18, 215-228.
7. Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175-189. DOI: 10.1080/03057640902902252
8. Bellibaş, Ş., Çalışkan, Ö. ve Gümüş, S. (2019). Öğretmen failliği ölçeği’nin (ÖFÖ) geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Trakya Eğitim Dergisi, 9(1), 1-11. Doi: 10.24315/trkefd.406391

9. Beijaard, D., Meijer, P., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 107–128.
10. Biesta, G.J.J. (2004). Education, accountability and the ethical demand. Can the democratic potential of accountability be regained? Educational Theory, 54, 233-250.
11. Biesta, G., Priestley, M. ve Robinson, S. (2015). The role of beliefs in teacher agency. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 624-640. DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2015.1044325
12. Biesta, G. ve Tedder, M. (2007). Agency and learning in the lifecourse: Towards an ecological perspective. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2007.11661545
13. Buchanan, R. (2015). Teacher identity and agency in an era of accountability. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 700-719.
14. Calvert, L. (2016). Moving from compliance to agency: What teachers need to make professional learning work. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward and NCTAF.
15. Darling-Hammond, L. (1997). The quality of teaching matters most.Journal of Staff Development,18(1), 38-41.
16. Doyle, W. (1992). Curriculum and pedagogy. P.W. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum (ss. 486–516) içinde. New York, NY: Macmillan.
17. Emirbayer, M., ve Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103, 962–1023.
18. Erdem, C. ve Eğmir, E. (2018). Öğretmen etkinliği kavramı ve öğretmen etkinliğinin Türk eğitim sistemindeki yeri. II. International Congress on Science and Education, 28-30 Eylül, 2018, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye.
19. Fu, G. ve Clarke, A. (2017). Teacher agency in the Canadian context: Linking the how and the what. Journal of Education for Teaching, 43(5), 581-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2017.1355046
20. Fullan, M. G. 1993. Why Teachers must Become Change Agents. Educational Leadership, 50 (6): 12–17.
21. Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Berkeley: University of California Press.
22. Henson, K.T. (1995). Curriculum development for education reform. Harper Collins College Publishers.
23. Hökkä, P., Eteläpelto, A. ve Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2012). The professional agency of teacher educators amid academic discourses. Journal of Education for Teaching, 38(1), 83e102.
24. Jenkins, G. (2019). Teacher agency: The effects of active and passive responses to curriculum change. The Australian Education Researcher. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00334-2
25. Juutilainen, M., Metsäpelto, R-L. ve Poikkeus, A-M. (2018). Becoming agentic teachers: Experiences of the home group approach as a resource for supporting teacher students’ agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 76, 116-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.08.013
26. Kayi-Aydar, H. (2015). Teacher agency, positioning, and English language learners: Voices of pre-service classroom teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 45, 94-103.
27. Kavcar, C. (1987). Türk dili ve edebiyatı öğretimi. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 20(1), 261-273.
28. Keddie, A., Mills, M. ve Pendergast, D. (2011). Fabricating and identity in neo-liberal times: performing schooling as ‘number one’. Oxford Review of Education, 37, 75-92.
29. Ketelaar, E., Beijaard, D., Boshuizen, H.P.A. ve Den Brok, P.J. (2012). Teachers’ positioning towards an educational innovation in the light of ownership, sense-making and agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 273-282. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2011.10.004
30. Kuiper, W., Nieveen, N. ve Berkvens, J. (2013). Curriculum regulation and freedom in the Netherlands- A puzzling paradox. W.Kuiper ve J. Berkvens (eds.), Balancing curriculum regulation and freedom across Europe, CIDREE Yearbook 2013 (ss.139-162) içinde. Enschede, Hollanda: SLO.
31. Lai, C., Li, Z. ve Gong, Y. (2016). Teacher agency and professional learning in cross-cultural teaching contexts: Pre-service Chinese teachers from international schools in Hong Kong. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 12-21.
32. Lasky, S. (2005). A sociocultural approach to understanding teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in a context of secondary school reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, 899-916. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2005.06.003
33. Lipponen, L., & Kumpulainen, K. (2011). Acting as accountable authors: Creating interactional spaces for agency work in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(5), 812-819.
34. Mifsud, D. (2018). Professional identities in initial teacher education: The narratives and questions of teacher agency. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76174-9
35. Mutlu, G. (2017). Professional space and agency: The case of in-service language teachers. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 6(2), 157-176.
36. Oolbekkink-Marchand, H.W., Hadar, L.L., Smith, K., Helleve, I. ve Ulvik, M. (2017). Teachers’ perceived professional space and their agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 62,37-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.11.005
37. Pantic, N. (2017). An explanatory study of teacher agency for social justice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 66, 219-230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.04.008
38. Parkison, P. (2008). Space for performing teacher identity: Through the lens of Kafka and Hegel. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 14, 51–60.
39. Paris, C. ve Lung, P. (2008). Agency and child-centered practices in novice teachers: Autonomy, efficacy, intentionality, and reflectivity. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 29(3), 253-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901020802275302
40. Philpott, C. (2017). Teacher agency and professional learning communities: What can learning rounds in Scotland teach us? M.A. Peters, B. Cowie ve I. Menter (Ed.) A companion to research in teacher education içinde. Springer.
41. Priestley, M., Biesta, G.J.J. & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: what is it and why does it matter? In R. Kneyber & J. Evers (eds.), Flip the System: Changing Education from the Bottom Up. London: Routledge.
42. Priestley, M., Biesta, G.J.J. & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsburry.
43. Pyhältö, K., Pietarinen, J. ve Soini, T. (2012). Do comprehensive school teachers perceive themselves as active professional agents in school reforms? Journal of Educational Change, 13(1), 95-116.
44. Ray, J.M. (2009). A template analysis of teacher agency at an academically successful dual language school. Journal of Advanced Academics, 21(1), 110-141.
45. Riveros, A., Newron, P. ve Burgess, D. (2012). A situated acoount of teacher agency and learning: Critical reflections on professional learning communities. Canadian Journal of Education, 35(1), 202-216.
46. Rogers, R. ve Wetzel, M. M. (2013). Studying agency in literacy teacher education: A layered approach to positive discourse analysis. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 10(1), 62-92.
47. Sahlberg, P. (2010). Rethinking accountability in a knowledge society. Journal of Educational Change, 11, 45-61.
48. Sannino, A. (2010). Teachers’ talk of experiencing: Conflict, resistance and agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 838-844. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901020802275302
49. Sloan, K. (2006). Teacher identity and agency in school worlds: Beyond the all-good/all-bad discourse on accountability-explicit curriculum policies. Curriculum Inquiry, 36(2), 119-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2006.00350.x
50. Soini, T., Pietarinen, J., Toom, A. ve Pyhältö, K. (2015). What contributes to first-year student teachers’ sense of professional agency in the classroom. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 641-659. DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2015.1044326
51. Taba, H. (1962). Curriculum development: Theory and practice. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.
52. Tao, J. ve Gao, X. (2017). Teacher agency and identity commitment in curricular reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 346-355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.01.010
53. Toom, A., Pietarinen, J., Soini, T. ve Pyhaltö, K. (2017). How does the learning environment in teacher education cultivate first year student teachers' sense of professional agency in the professional community? Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 126-136.
54. Toom, A., Pyhaltö, K., & Rust, F. O. (2015). Teachers' professional agency in contradictory times. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 615e623.
55. Vahasantanen, K. (2015). Professional agency in the stream of change: Understanding educational change and teachers' professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 47, 1-12.
56. Verberg, C.P.M., Tigelaar, D.E.H., van Veen, K. ve Verloop, N. (2016). Teacher agency within the context of formative teacher assessment: An in-depth analysis. Educational Studies, 42(5), 534-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2016.1231060
57. Villegas, A. M., ve Lucas, T. (2002). Educating culturally responsive teachers. Albany: State University of New York Press.
58. Volkmann, M.J., & Anderson, M.A. (1998). Creating professional identity: Dilemmas and metaphors of a first-year chemistry teacher. Science Education, 82(3), 293-310.