A model of teacher agency in professional development and school reform

Abstract

In research on teacher professional development and school reform attention for the role of teacher agency has been growing significantly during the last decade. The objective of this study is to create a model with the potential to view professional development and school reform from a teacher agency perspective at multiple levels. The model of teacher agency in professional development and school reform is built on five characteristics; it (1) presents the teacher as an actor, (2) depicts dynamic relationships, (3) treats professional development and school reform as inherently contextualized, including multiple levels, (4) includes the professional development and school reform content as variable and (5) considers outcomes as part of a continuing cycle. To illustrate the usefulness of the model as an analytical tool 36 research articles on professional development and school reform were selected. These articles shared a focus on teacher agency. The analysis showed that research on teacher agency varies in how these five characteristics are elaborated. Moreover, the model demonstrated to be a promising tool to research multilevel complexity by integrating theoretical insights in, and empirical research results of school reform and professional development.