ERIC Number: EJ1340619
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-5692
EISSN: N/A
Exploring the Relational Nature of Teachers' Agency Negotiation through Master- and Counter-Narratives
British Journal of Sociology of Education, v43 n3 p397-414 2022
Teachers' agency has recently been vastly studied from a sociocultural perspective, emphasising that teachers' action is shaped by the structures within which teachers work. However, this study provides a different perspective, introducing relational sociology to the research on teachers' agency. Here, agency is seen as embedded in interdependencies and relationships, either personal or impersonal. Finnish newly qualified teachers were interviewed concerning their teacher training and work to explore how they negotiated agency in their narratives. The analysis shows the entanglement of master- and counter-narratives in agency negotiation as the teachers drew on prevailing societal master-narratives and simultaneously provided opposing categories through counter-narratives. The results reveal three aspects of relationships through which the agency was negotiated: "political," "cultural," and "epistemic." The study contributes to the understanding of teachers' agency, paying attention to language and the plurality of relationships in agency negotiation and formation.
Descriptors: Professional Autonomy, Foreign Countries, Beginning Teachers, Student Experience, Preservice Teacher Education, Personal Narratives, Social Environment, Social Influences, Education Work Relationship, Interpersonal Relationship, Educational Sociology, Teaching Experience
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A