The change and continuity of teachers' professional agency: A two-year longitudinal study in the case of Hong Kong

The change and continuity of teachers' professional agency: A two-year longitudinal study in the case of Hong Kong

• Lau, Josephine University of Jyväskylä
• Vähäsantanen, Katja Häme University of Applied Sciences
• Collin, Kaija University of Jyväskylä

Asia Pacific Journal of Education, (0), -, 2023

Routledge

2023

• M Teachers & Education for Teachers
  • MA Professional Education for Teachers

Teacher Professional Agency Teacher Career Development Hierarchical Structure Longitudinal Study Qualitative Study

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

• View Full Text 全文連結

To transform existing education practices in tackling different challenges and future uncertainties, it is essential to engage teachers as active agents in students' learning, collegial collaboration, school development and societal issues throughout the career. This study investigates the change and continuity of teacher professional agency associated with the individual position and socio-cultural factors in Hong Kong. Data from semi-structured interviews were collected with 14 teachers over a two-year period in 2018 and 2020, and narrative analysis was utilized to examine teacher agency. The changes and continuity were categorized into four types: 1) expanding, 2) strategic, 3) exploring, and 4) withering agencies. The way teachers took and made work-related actions and decisions on their career trajectories could be associated with the changes in individual positions, the organizational culture, and the leadership style in the socio-cultural context. This study contributes to the existing understanding of the temporal development and enactment of professional agency. Despite the strong hierarchical structure embedded in the school managerial practices, a trusting management and collaborative work community that allow channels to receive bottom-up suggestions and spaces to enable individual learning could support positive changes and the continuity of professional agency. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

• English

Journal Articles

• 02188791

• 10.1080/02188791.2023.2283368

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/4365d8f6

2024-05-17