Developing and Validating an Assessment Scale for Foreign Language Teacher Agency

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate, Department of English, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of English, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of English Language Teaching, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Foreign language (FL) teacher agency, as a significant part of teachers’ professional development, encompasses self-organized efforts to augment professional growth. This study aimed to develop an ecological FL teacher agency model through a sequential exploratory mixed methods design based on which an assessment scale measuring FL teachers' agency value was developed. In the qualitative phase, developing and validating the FL teacher agency model, firstly, an interview guide was developed and piloted in a group of 10 TEFL teacher educators from Farhangian Teacher Education University in Tehran. Then, 30 in-service EFL teachers were interviewed. The data were analyzed through MAXQDA to find the components of the tentative conceptual model of teacher agency.  Based on the interview analysis, the preliminary draft of the EFL teacher agency scale was developed.  The refined EFL teacher agency questionnaire encompassing the three components of Autonomy, Freedom, and Choice was administered to 354 randomly selected EFL teachers. The scale's reliability was gained through Cronbach's alpha, and its construct validity through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The study findings could be used by foreign language teachers, teacher educators, and TEFL teacher agency researchers. 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Ahmad, H., & Shah, S. R. (2022). Teacher agency and professional development: A study on Cambridge English teacher program in the Arabian Gulf. Cogent Education, 9(1), 2080352.
Amiri, M., Jalilzadeh, K., & Rastgari, M. (2023). Developing a model of teacher agency for Turkish EFL teachers. In Ö. Kırmızı & A. Irgatoğlu (Eds.), Situated nature of EFL teacher psychology (pp.283-316). Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık.
Arabahmadi, S., Mazandarani, O., Seyyedrezaei, S. H., & Seyyedrezaei, Z. S. (2023). Understanding Iranian EFL pre-service teachers' professional agency: An ecological approach. Research in English Language Pedagogy, 11(4), 638-661.
Bagherian, F., & Haddad Narafshan, M. (2023). Relationship between Technology Acceptance and Technology Anxiety among Iranian EFL Learners. International Journal of Language and Translation Research, 2(4), 79-106.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy. The exercise of control. Henry Holt & Co.
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
Best, J. W., & Kahn, J. V. (2006). Research in Education (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2006). How is agency possible? Towards an ecological understanding of agency-as-achievement. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 132-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2007.11661545
Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2015). The role of beliefs in teacher agency. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 624-640. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2015.1044325
Borg, S. (2013). Teacher research in language teaching: A critical analysis. Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Stanford University Press.
Byrd, D. R. (2022). Examining professional identity development through L2 student teacher journals. In P. C. Miller & J. L. Watzke (Eds.), Reading in language Studies (V. 3): Language and identity (pp. 367-387). Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Cheron, C., Salvagni, J., & Colomby, R. K. (2022). The qualitative approach interview in administration: A guide for researchers. Journal of Contemporary Administration, 26, 1-15.
Cong-Lem, N. (2021). Teacher agency: A systematic review of international literature. Issues in Educational Research, 31(3), 718-738.
Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. (2014). Basics of Qualitative Research. (3rd Ed), Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Creswell, J. W. (2021). A concise introduction to mixed methods research. SAGE publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2023). Revisiting mixed methods research designs twenty years later. In N. P. Cheryl (Ed.), Handbook of Mixed Methods Research Designs (pp. 21-36). SAGE Publications Ltd.
Cutcliffe, J. R., & McKenna, H. P. (1999). Establishing the credibility of qualitative research findings: the plot thickens. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30(2), 374-380.
Damsa, C. I., & Jornet, A. (2017). Revisiting learning in higher education-framing notions redefined through an ecological perspective. Frontline Learning Research, 4(4), 39-47. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v4i4.208
Damşa, C., Langford, M., Uehara, D., & Scherer, R. (2021). Teachers’ agency and online education in times of crisis. Computers in Human Behaviour, 121, 106793.
Davis, E. A., & Krajcik, J. S. (2005). Designing educative curriculum materials to promote teacher learning. Educational Researcher, 34(3), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034003003
Davydov, V. V., Slobodchikov, V. I., & Tsukerman, G. A. (2003). The elementary school student as an agent of learning activity. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 41(5), 63-76.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Edwards, A. (2015). Recognizing and realizing teachers’ professional agency. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 779-784.
Edwards, E. (2021). The ecological impact of action research on language teacher development: A review of the literature. Educational Action Research, 29(3), 396-413.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962-1023. https://doi.org/10.1086/231294
Etelӓpelto, 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
Field, A. (2024). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS, statistics for statistics (8th ed.). Sage Publications.
Fu, G., & Clarke, A. (2017). Teacher agency in the Canadian context: linking the how and the what. Journal of Education for Teaching, 43(5), 581-593.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity. Stanford University Press.
Golombek, P., & Doran, M. (2014). Unifying cognition, emotion, and activity in language teacher professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 39, 102-111.
Green, C., & Pappa, S. (2021). EFL teacher education in Finland: Manifestations of professional agency in teacher educators’ work. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(4), 552-568. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2020.1739128
Hilferty, F. (2008). Teacher professionalism and cultural diversity: Skills, knowledge and values for a changing Australia. The Australian Educational Researcher, 35(3), 53-70.
Hull, M. M., & Uematsu, H. (2020). A survey to measure perceived agency of teachers. International Journal of Physics & Chemistry Education, 12(3), 49-59.
Imants, J., & Van der Wal, M. M. (2019). A model of teacher agency in professional development and school reform. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 52(1), 1-14.
Kayi-Aydar, H. (2021). A framework for positioning analysis: From identifying to analyzing (pre) positions in narrated story lines. System, 102, 102600.
Kayi-Aydar, H., Varghese, M., & Vitanova, G. (2022). Intersectionality for TESOL education: Connecting theory and justice pedagogy. CATESOL Journal, 33(1), 52-64.
Kordabadi, F. S., & Davatgari Asl, H. (2021). An exploratory study of Iranian EFL teachers’ agency: Conceptions and practices. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching & Research, 2(35), 71-83.
Koster, B., Dengerink, J., Korthagen, F., & Lunenberg, M. (2008). Teacher educators working on their own professional development: Goals, activities and outcomes of a project for the professional development of teacher educators. Teachers and Teaching, 14(5-6), 567-587.
Kramer, M. (2018). Promoting teachers’ agency: Reflective practice as transformative disposition. Reflective Practice, 19(2), 211-224.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Retrieved from https://books.google.at/books
Lipponen, L., & Kumpulainen, K. (2011). Acting as accountable authors: Creating interactional spaces for agency work in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(5), 812-819. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X11000023
Loughran, J. (2014). Professionally developing as a teacher educator. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(4), 271-283.
Lunenberg, M., Murray, J., Smith, K., & Vanderlinde, R. (2017). Collaborative teacher educator professional development in Europe: different voices, one goal. Professional Development in Education, 43(4), 556-572. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1206032
Malmberg, L. E., & Hagger, H. (2009). Changes in student teachers' agency beliefs during a teacher education year, and relationships with observed classroom quality, and day‐to‐day experiences. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(4), 677-694.
Malmberg, L. E., Wanner, B., Nordmyr, A. M., & Little, T. (2004). The teachers’ control, agency, and means-ends belief questionnaire (TCAM): Reliability and validity. Abo Academy University.
Maxwell, J. A. (2018). Collecting qualitative data: A realist approach. In U. Flick (Ed.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Data Collection (118-225). Sage Publications Ltd.
Metz, M. (2018). The role of teacher educators’ personal histories and motivations in shaping opportunities to learn about social justice. Teachers College Record, 120(7), 1-34.
Molla, T., & Nolan, A. (2020). Teacher agency and professional practice. Teachers and Teaching, 26(1), 67-87.
Motlagh, R. A., Nemati, M., & Karami, H. (2024). Distributed leadership and teacher professional learning: The mediating role of teacher agency in Iranian EFL context. Iranian Journal of Applied Language Studies, 16(1), 135-160.
Pantić, N. (2021). Teachers’ reflection on their agency for change (TRAC): A tool for teacher development and professional inquiry. Teacher Development, 25(2), 136-154.
Philpott, C., & Oates, C. (2017). Teacher agency and professional learning communities; what can be learning rounds in Scotland teach us? Professional Development in Education, 43(3), 318-333. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1180316
Ping, C., Schellings, G., & Beijaard, D. (2018). Teacher educators' professional learning: A literature review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 75, 93-104.
Pyhältö, K., Pietarinen, J., & Soini, T. (2015). Teachers' professional agency and learning from adaption to active modification in the teacher community. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(7), 811-830. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.995483
Quinn, R., & Carl, N. M. (2015). Teacher activist organizations and the development of professional agency. Teachers and Teaching, 21(6), 745-758.
Rasti, A., & Sahragard, R. (2017). Making sense of EFL teacher agency: Insights from an Iran case study. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 9(19), 145-169.
Razmjoo, S. A., & Tajik, F. (2023). Presenting a profile of teacher agency among Iranian EFL university instructors. Applied Research on English Language, 12(3), 111-132.
Reeve, J., & Tseng, C. M. (2011). Agency as a fourth aspect of students’ engagement during learning activities. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(4), 257-267.
Rezaee, A. A., & Seyri, H. (2021). Teacher agency in the context of curriculum reform in the Iranian educational system. Journal of Foreign Language Research, 11(1), 27-46.
Royaei, N., Ghonsooly, B., Ghapanchi, Z., & Ahanchian, M. R. (2023). Scrutinizing the professional agency of EFL teachers: Identifying the contributors and manifestations. Mextesol Journal, 47(2), n2.
Ruan, X. (2018). Engagement and negotiation: Exploring a tertiary female EFL teacher’s professional agency in her career development in PR China. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 4(3), 46-63.
Sewell, J, W. H. (1992). A theory of structure: Duality, agency, and transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 98(1), 1-29.
Smith, K. (2005). Teacher educators’ expertise: what do novice teachers and teacher educators say? Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(2), 177-192.
Tao, J., & Gao, X. A. (2017). Teacher agency and identity commitment in curricular reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 346-355.
Tao, J., & Gao, X. A. (2021). Language teacher agency. Cambridge University Press.
Ursin, J., Vähäsantanen, K., McAlpine, L., & Hökkä, P. (2020). Emotionally loaded identity and agency in Finnish academic work. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44(3), 311-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2018.1541971
Virkkunen, J. (2016). Dilemmas in building shared transformative agency. Activates (Vitry-Sur-Seine), 3(1), 26-37. https://doi.org/10.4000/activites.1850
Wei, B., & Chen, N. (2019). Agency at work: two beginning science teachers’ stories in a context of curriculum reform in China. International Journal of Science Education, 41(10), 1287-1302. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1600205
Weng, Z. (2022). From EFL to ESL: Nonlinear development of teacher identity and expertise across contexts. In C.E. Poteau & C. A. Winkle (Eds.), Advocacy for Social and Linguistic Justice in TESOL (pp. 107-120). Routledge.
Wilcox, K. C., & Lawson, H. A. (2018). Teachers’ agency, efficacy, engagement, and emotional resilience during policy innovation implementation. Journal of Educational Change, 19, 181-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-017-9313-0

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics