Proactive Agency – do you relate to Sam?

Sam has been a teacher for a few years and feels established in his school; students and colleagues know him, and he feels a sense of belonging. Although he knows that there is always more to learn, he feels that most lessons go well. He enjoys teaching in his subject area and getting those “Aha!” moments from his students. Sam has taught the national curriculum in his subject all the way through from Year 7 to GCSE and has recently started to develop his skills with teaching an A Level group. Whilst he feels confident in the Key Stage 3 and GCSE curriculum, Sam is still getting his head around some of the topics on the A Level syllabus that weren’t directly covered in his degree. Fortunately, he has great colleagues who have contributed to a wealth of resources over the years, and these make a great jumping-off point for his own learning and planning. 

Sam knows that he will have a learning curve with the content, so he decides to read a couple of books on the subject to improve his confidence. He intends to have brushed up on his knowledge by Christmas, as he will start delivering the least familiar and most daunting topic in January. The department subject leader used to be Sam’s mentor, so he knows he can ask her for support if he needs it. He feels confident that he will be able to master the unfamiliar concepts in time to plan lessons for that scheme of work and knows support is available if he needs it.

Recently, Sam saw a trailer for a documentary series on the topic, and so he decides to watch it. Afterwards, at the next department meeting, he mentions to his colleagues how much he enjoyed the first programme, and they briefly discuss it as a team. An experienced colleague, who is an expert in the subject, points out that a concept was slightly oversimplified in the programme. They explain it clearly, highlighting how it relates to the A Level syllabus and the team discuss kinds of questions that might come up in the exam on this topic. This conversation helps Sam feel more confident about misconceptions that might arise, and so he adds a section to his resources to highlight it for his students. 

When January comes around, Sam starts teaching the challenging topic. It goes well, but he feels stretched. His experienced colleague acts as a coach and helps him with planning and moderation of tests. Students respond well, and Sam feels that he is seeing progress. Test results show that his students are performing in line with (and some above) expectations. 

His confidence boosted, Sam decides to sign up for a professional qualification to improve his teaching and learning with the hope of refining his skills and exploring a leadership career pathway. This feels like an ambitious, yet attainable career goal, and Sam is keen to pursue it. Knowing how much his subject leader and former mentor have shaped his practice and confidence as a teacher, Sam is keen to ‘pay it forward’ so he asks whether he would be able to mentor any Early Career Teachers or trainees who might come into the department in the future. When he discusses his career development pathways with his subject leader, she is really encouraging and agrees to recommend Sam for the course and says she’ll keep Sam in mind for future mentoring roles in the department.

Bibliography for further reading 

Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a Psychology of Human Agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x

Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What Is Agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962–1023. https://doi.org/10.1086/231294

Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013). What Is Agency? Conceptualizing Professional Agency at Work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.05.001

Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Polity Press.

Imants, J., & Van der Wal, M. M. (2020). A Model of Teacher Agency in Professional Development and School Reform. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 52(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1604809

Namgung, W., Moate, J., & Ruohotie-Lyhty, M. (2020). Investigating the Professional Agency of Secondary School English Teachers in South Korea. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 5(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-020-00083-1

Pantić, N. (2021). Teachers’ Reflection on Their Agency for Change (TRAC): A Tool for Teacher Development and Professional Inquiry. Teacher Development, 0(0), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2020.1868561

Wenger, E. (2008). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge University Press.

Young, M. F., DePalma, A., & Garrett, S. (2002). Situations, Interaction, Process and Affordances: An Ecological Psychology Perspective. Instructional Science, 30(1), 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013537432164