The thesis developed a model of diffracted and entangled agencies that emphasizes a kaleidoscope of possibilities for understanding teacher agency. Teacher agency was also viewed as dialogic choices of representations among different target groups, co-participants and role players with varied agendas.
List of abbreviations
List of tables
List of appendices
Appendix 15
Situating the phenomenon in the context of the study
Introduction
In 2017, the education authorities of Mauritius introduced a major reform of the national curriculum in an attempt to address criticism of the education system, which is increasingly characterized as not developing a more equitable and democratic responsiveness to the socio-economic demands of the country (World Bank, cited in Nadal, Ankiah-Gangadeen & Kee Mew, 2017). How teachers are responding to a reform that aims to move away from traditional exam-focused strategies to help students develop employability skills.
Conceptualising teacher agency
- What is agency?
- What is teacher agency?
Therefore, it is important to examine teacher agency in relation to spatial and temporal forces. The aim of this study is therefore to understand teacher agency as a phenomenon that is constantly influenced by a dynamic macro-policy environment.
Anchoring the study in its context
- Locating the phenomenon in a small island developing state
- Education policies in Mauritius
Under the new reform, some government schools are being converted into academies for students who excel in the NCE exam. A paradigmatic shift is noticed in the way in which teachers are perceived – they are valued as the implementers of curriculum.
Rationale for the study
Moreover, a study of teacher agency is not limited to the local production site, but extends to global concerns, as changing micro-institutional and macro-political contexts are challenges that teachers face in different countries12. 12 For example, studies conducted by Erss (2018) on curriculum implementation in Estonia, Finland and Germany; Mitchell (2016) on curriculum development in a hypersocialized space; Nguyen and Bui (2016) on English language policy in Vietnam; Tan (2016) on the new curriculum reform in China; and Pantic (2015) on teacher agency during the implementation of new policy in Scotland.
Acknowledging my positionality
Overview of chapters
Chapter four (PART 3) contains a dramatic analysis of The Cockroach (the chosen title of the ethnodrama), which is a continuation of the evaluative analysis from the previous part. The organizational chart below captures the various phases of the thesis research and writing process.
Chapter synthesis
A literature review towards a theoretical framework
Introduction
Therefore, in part two, I elaborate on what gives rise to the different pragmatic ways in which teachers exercise agency. In part three, using a sociocultural lens, I go beyond the ecological model of teacher agency and emphasize its complexity as being shaped by coexisting social, cultural, and economic policy forces.
Understanding forces impacting teacher agency through an ecological model
- The iterational dimension
- The projective dimension
- The practical-evaluative dimension
This observation is adapted to understand teacher agency as according to Priestley et al. 2015), teachers' current agency choices are also influenced by past experiences, namely a repertoire of biographical experiences that includes both personal and professional experiences. Therefore, according to the iterative dimension of the ecological model of teacher agency, prior experience can enable or constrain teacher agency. The ecological model of teacher agency helps understand the forces that influence, enable, or constrain agency.
Agency as a complex response to personal and professional experiences
- Professional education programmes and workshops
- Collegiality and the development of collective agency
- Varying levels of autonomy experienced by teachers
As Ryder, Lidar, Lundqvist, and Östman (2018) note, teacher intervention is “a long-term practice rather than a set of actions at a particular moment” (p. 539) and is a form of accumulated experience that will depend on the temporal factor. These collegial experiences have been termed “relational agency” by Pappa et al. 2017), as they point out the importance of exchanging experience and knowledge with colleagues in establishing the agency. Collegiality and empowerment can also be studied in the form of teachers' speech (Biesta et al., 2017).
Agency influenced by broader national and global forces
In the ecological model of teacher agency, Priestley et al. 2015) acknowledge the dominant influence of the teacher's contextual space (the emphasis is on the micro-institutional space) since, for example, within the practical-evaluative dimension, the teacher's school ethos and micro-institutional infrastructure have an impact on the ways on which agency is exercised to a great extent. Their contribution to curriculum making may be limited within the scope of the macro-regulated policy environment. As discussed below, the review of the existing literature on teacher agency helped identify the gap and in developing my critical questions.
Identifying the gap
Furthermore, my study extends the existing literature on the forces exerted within the micro-institutional space on teachers' agency. The forces identified have different impacts on teacher agency – some are seen to enable agency while others constrain it. As noted earlier in policy review and reflection on teacher agency, as they carry out various reforms, teachers exercise different types of agency – compliance, passivity, active contribution, rebellion.
Designing a temporary theoretical lens to understand teacher agency
Furthermore, a teacher who chooses to deliver curriculum content without question is still contributing to curriculum delivery – 'curriculum making' (Lambert. Curriculum making is an empowering choice where teachers choose to be actively involved in the delivery of new As a result, along with curriculum development and delivery, a teacher may find themselves engaged in “strategic mimicry” (Mattson & Harley, 2003), during which they adhere to policy goals and objectives, but at the same time maintain past ways of teaching (past-directed).
Chapter synthesis
Interpreting teacher agency through teachers’ stories
Introduction
Selecting a research approach to study teacher agency
- Choosing the interpretivist paradigm
- Choosing a qualitative research design
- Choosing a life history approach
- Positionality and subjectivity
These multiple methods were also used to reduce the influence of researcher subjectivity and positioning. The qualitative research design allowed me to immerse myself in the lives of the teachers and understand the ways in which they exercised agency as they negotiated their roles and experiences in a changing reform context. The relationship between the researcher and the participants and the influence of the researcher on the lives of the participants cannot be ignored.
Generating data
- Using purposive sampling to select the participants
- Selecting and designing data production tools
- Refining the data generating tools: The pilot study
- Ensuring validity
- Gaining entry to the field and upholding ethical considerations
Thus, this activity was considered a valuable stimulus that allowed me as a researcher to immerse myself in the history landscapes of the participants. These artefact-stimulating activities prioritized participants' voices and interpretations in constructing and piecing together narratives. Therefore, my priority as a researcher was to ensure confidentiality and anonymity as I began to build trusting relationships in order to better understand the multiple truths of the participants' personal and professional experiences.
Anticipating analysis
- Recording data
- Analysing the data .1 Transcribing the data
While some of the thematic categories (see Appendix 8) were derived from a priori categories of forces identified in the existing literature in chapter two, the process of refining the color coding also included data-derived categories with minimal a priori expectations (Corbin & Strauss , 2008). In the next phase (second level), I did the dramatic analysis of the first three acts of the ethnodrama. Such involvement of the narrative researcher in constructing the stories of the participants in a drama performance is explained by Becker (1995).
Chapter synthesis
In its three-dimensionality on paper, drama can expand understanding of themes, meta-themes, contexts, social/political/cultural/economic surroundings, players, the complex researcher, and the pulse of the story. Indeed, this mode of representation helped my analysis of themes (autonomy, accountability, unregulated and regulated spaces, teacher emotions, etc.), sub-themes (examination-oriented agency, empowerment, deprofessionalization, etc.); understanding what affects agency, how agency is affected, and why teachers exercise agency in specific ways; my reflection, growth and disruption as a researcher; and the temporal influences of past and present experiences and future motivations. It provided a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon and allowed me to conduct a descriptive and evaluative analysis to identify and abstract themes emerging from the study.
Dramatic representation and analysis
Introduction
- PART 1
Representing the participants’ narratives through ethnodrama representation
Introduction to Part 1
Before engaging with the first and second levels of analysis in the following parts (Parts 2 and 3), I introduce the drama as a representational structuring device. At the beginning of this part, I justify the choice of the ethnodrama, as I place the phenomenon within varied spatial realities. In the last section, I illuminate the structure, characters and setting of the ethnodrama, before moving on to the dramatic presentation of the participants' stories in part 2.
Teacher agency within varied spatial realities
The choice of spatial contexts in the creation of this ethnodrama allows me to show that agency is not only a product of the specific spaces within which the fieldwork data itself was. These connected spaces are reimagined in the construction of the drama space of the ethnodramatic representation. In the final Act of the opening drama (Act IV), I take a grounded approach to analysis to generate further levels of analysis by categorizing and organizing themes emerging from the first three Acts.
Choosing the title of the ethnodrama
This multi-layered spatiality (sometimes also spanning different time boundaries) where the ethnodrama flows in and out captures the surrounding levels of space that surround teachers' agency, experiences and practices. I reflect again on my representative choice of analysis in this thesis when I choose how to conclude this innovative methodological form of representation in the concluding part of the thesis: the last act V of the ethnodrama. Unlike Acts I through IV, Act V is not data driven, but rather by the elaboration of the constructed position.
Structure of The Cockroach
The choice of MIE as a location is very significant as during the data production phase, it was observed that many participants equated the reform with MIE, especially since the institution produced the reform documents and texts. Saldana (2005) proposes different ways in which the researcher can become part of the ethnodrama: as a main character, the character's best friend, a chorus member, an off-stage voice, an extra or a servant. We do not stand metaphorically outside the investigation, but we are part of the phenomenon under study.”
Cross-case analysis
However, it cannot be denied that the researcher is decisive in the co-construction of narratives when a narrative research methodology is adopted. The pace of this law is a very fast one that captures the complexity of teacher agency, experiences and identities in a changing macro policy context. A synthesis and analysis of the thematic groups emerging from Act IV and the discussion in Part 3 helped me construct my analytical framework (Jeong, 2009) in chapter five.
PART 2
- Introduction to Part 2
- The Cockroach
Veena: But at the same time, this is not the first time we have to go through a reform. So yes, we are confused and show hesitation, but that's normal...we have to adapt to the changes. 31 French; translated as: "Ma'am, this is the GP class, we watch the movies and discuss."
SCENE I
PART 3
A dramatic analysis of emerging themes
Introduction to Part 3
Agency as an outcome of internal and external forces
MIE's dominance is reflected in this view – the blurred lines between the book, the policy documents and the professional workshops. While the previous sections focused on observations made regarding external forces exerted by the macro-political and micro-institutional spaces, in this section I highlight the powerful internal force that shapes teacher identities and guides agency choices – the characters' emotions. Teachers are expected to change their strategies and they can respond confidently and happily by embracing the new as in the case of Sara who describes teaching EP as “fun” and exciting as she develops new strategies and “helps” students.
Chapter Synthesis
In the third part of the chapter, I engaged in a further abstraction of the themes arising from this cross-case analysis through a dramatic analysis of Cockroach. These stages of analysis—descriptive and evaluative—enable me to represent the three-dimensional stories of my participants, understand multi-layered truths and experiences, and enrich my understanding of the complexity of coexisting forces that influence teacher agency. In the next chapter, I engage in further abstraction and move towards a philosophical understanding of the ways in which teacher agency is exercised in a reform context.
Understanding the complexity of teacher agency through diffraction
Introduction
I find myself in that 'liminal space' where, in order to better understand the nuanced forms of teacher agency as they exist within dominant social structures, I adopt Barad's theory of diffraction (as discussed in 5.1.2) to explore the diffractive multiple possibilities to capture. in which an individual can exercise agency. This study is situated during an important change—policy and curriculum reform—that has enabled the complexity of teacher agency as teachers negotiate their professional identities and personal beliefs within a changing context. Accordingly, this chapter provides thematic abstraction of themes derived from chapter four by adopting the diffraction analytic lens that captures the multiplicity of teachers' experiences, the fractured forms of agency and the negotiation of teacher agency within embedded temporal and spatial dimensions .
Dialoguing with the original theoretical lens
- Themes emanating from descriptive and evaluative levels
- Proposing an analytical lens for further abstraction
Indeed, as suggested in the theoretical framework in section 5.1 (and in chapter two), these forces give rise to liberation science, strategic mimicry and active curriculum formation. To understand this messiness, I chose Barad's diffraction and entanglement theory as analytical lens, which is explained in the next section. In the same vein, Barad (2010) observes that the concepts of space and time cannot be understood and limited to continuity and homogeneity because there are multiple possibilities of experiences (possibilities that transcend binary opposites).
The reform – a change that foregrounds diffracted agency
- Teacher agency as an outcome of interwoven dimensions
As noted in chapter one, their discontent materialized in the elimination of the 'rat race'. This explains why some teachers (despite their criticism of the performativity culture of school education) prefer to continue teaching as they have been teaching, as they have a firm belief in the effectiveness of their strategies to achieve these results. liver. In chapter four, the importance of the teachers' past can be seen as decisive in understanding the present and in determining future careers.
