Understanding Iranian EFL Pre-Service Teachers' Professional Agency: An Ecological Approach

الموضوعات : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Saemeh Arabahmadi ¹ (Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Omid Mazandarani ² (Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Seyyed Hassan Seyyedrezaei ³ (Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Zari Sadat Seyyedrezaei ⁴ (Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)

تاريخ الإرسال : 06 الأحد , شعبان, 1444 تاريخ التأكيد : 30 السبت , شوال, 1444 تاريخ الإصدار : 16 الأحد , ربيع الأول, 1445

الکلمات المفتاحية: Student Teacher, Pre-Service Teacher Agency, Teacher agency, EFL, Teacher Education,

ملخص المقالة :

This study aimed to investigate the sense of professional agency of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers at Farhangian University, Iran. The study aimed to examine changes in teacher agency across Farhangian University campuses using a newly-developed survey that was part of a larger study. The survey assessed the professional agency of 210 pre-service teachers through convenience sampling in three dimensions, namely iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective dimensions. Based on the theoretical framework of ecological teacher agency, the pre-service teachers' agency questionnaire comprised instructional beliefs, supportive beliefs, competency, collaborative learning, the opportunity to influence, the opportunity to make choices, support, equality, trust, institutional context, community, short-term and long-term goals. The collected data were subjected to statistical analyses, including Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. The study observed a significant correlation between all major elements of pre-service teachers' professional agency. Notably, senior students perceived as having higher agency than freshman students. However, no significant gender effects were observed in achieving agency. In conclusion, this study suggests that the development of professional agency among student teachers is crucial for their overall performance as teachers. The study provides valuable insight into how teacher education programs can enhance student teachers' professional agency and offers recommendations for future research.

المصادر:

Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(3), 75-78.

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1.

Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2007). Agency and learning in the life-course: Towards an ecological perspective. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 132-149. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2007.11661545.

Carson, L., Hontvedt, M., & Lund, A. (2021). Student teacher podcasting: Agency and change. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 29, 100514. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2021.100514.

Davies, B. & Gannon, S. (2011). Feminism/poststructuralism. In C. Lewin & B. Somekh (Eds.), Theory and Methods in Social Research (pp. 312–319). Sage.

Davies, B. & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20 (1), 43–63.

Day, C., Elliot, B., & Kington, A. (2005). Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(5), 563-577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.03.001

Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962-1023.

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/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.05.001.

Hökkä, P., & Eteläpelto, A. (2014). Seeking new perspectives on the development of teacher education e a study of the Finnish context. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(1), 39-52.

Hollis, M. (1994). The philosophy of social science: An introduction. Cambridge university 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/https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1604809.

Jääskelä, P., Poikkeus, A.-M., Vasalampi, K., Valleala, U. M., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2017). Assessing agency of university students: Validation of the AUS Scale. Studies in Higher Education, 42(11), 2061-2079.

Jones, M., & Charteris, J. (2017). Transformative professional learning: An ecological approach to the agency through critical reflection. Reflective Practice, 18(4), 496-513. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2017.1307729.

Kayi-Aydar, H. (2019). A language teacher’s agency in the development of her professional identities: A narrative case study. Journal of Latinos and Education, 18(1), 4-18.

King, H., & Nomikou, E. (2018). Fostering critical teacher agency: The impact of a science capital pedagogical approach. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 26(1), 87-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2017.1353539.   

Koni, I., & Krull, E. (2018). Differences in novice and experienced teachers’ perceptions of planning activities in terms of primary instructional tasks. Teacher Development, 22(4), 464-480.

Kordabadi, F. S., Assadi Aidinlu, N., & Davatgari Asl, H. (2021). An exploratory study of Iranian EFL teachers’ agency: Conceptions and practices. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 9(35), 71-80.

Leijen, Ä., Pedaste, M., & Baucal, A. (2021). Assessing student teachers’ agency and using it for predicting commitment to teaching. European Journal of Teacher Education, 1-17. https://doi.org/doi:10.1080/02619768.2021.1889507.

Leijen , Ä., Pedaste , M., & Lepp, L. (2020). Teacher agency following the ecological model: How it is achieved and how it could be strengthened by different types of reflection. British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(3), 295-310.

Loutzenheiser, L., & Heer, K. (2017). Unsettling habitual ways of teacher education through post-theories of teacher agency. In D. Clandinin & J. Husu (Eds.), The Sage handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 317-332). Sage.

Liyanage, I., Bartlett, B., Walker, T., & Guo, X. (2015). Assessment policies, curricular directives, and teacher agency: Quandaries of EFL teachers in Inner Mongolia. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9(3), 251-264. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2014.915846.

Mazandarani, O. (2022). The status quo of L2 vis-à-vis general teacher education. Educational Studies, 48(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2020.1729101.

Mazandarani, O., & Troudi, S. (2017). Teacher evaluation: What counts as an effective teacher? In Evaluation in foreign language education in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 3-28). Springer. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43234-2_1.

Mazandarani, O., & Troudi, S. (2022). Measures and features of teacher effectiveness evaluation: perspectives from Iranian EFL lecturers. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 21(1), 19-42. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43234-2_1.

Nazari, M., De Costa, P. I., & Karimpour, S. (2023). The role of institutional policy in English language teacher autonomy, agency, and identity: A poststructural perspective. Language Teaching Research, https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221143476

Priestley, M. R. (2013). Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice. Bloomsbury.

Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2013). Teachers as agents of change: Teacher agency and emerging models of curriculum. In M. Priestley & G. Biesta (Eds.), Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice (pp. 187-206). Bloomsbury.

Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/doi:10.5040/9781474219426.

Rezaee, A. A., & Seyri, H. (2021). Teacher agency in the context of curriculum reform in the Iranian educational system. Foreign Language Research Journal, 11(1), 27-46.

Soini, T., Pietarinen, J., Toom, A., & Pyhältö, K. (2015). What contributes to first-year student teachers’ sense of professional agency in the classroom? Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 641-659. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2015.1044326.

Teng, F. (2019). Autonomy, agency, and identity in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. Springer. https://doi.org/doi:org/10.1007/978-981-13-0728-7.

Toom, A., Pietarinen, J., Soini, T., & Pyhältö, 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. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.12.013.

Toom, A., Pyhältö, K., & Rust, F. O. C. (2015). Teachers’ professional agency in contradictory times. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 615-623. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2015.1044334.