Abstract:

Introduction:
The importance of promoting Teacher Agency in universities stems from the assumption of positive relationships with teacher learning, teacher well-being, and engagement (Toom, Pyhältö, & Rust, 2015; Vähäsantanen, Paloniemi, Räikkönen, & Hökkä, 2020). Several conceptualisations and characteristics of Teacher Agency have been presented (Toom et al., 2015). Briefly, Teacher Agency can be defined as teachers' ability to act purposefully - where influencing work practice, shaping work practice, and acting with regard to one's professional identity play an important role (Vähäsantanen, Räikkönen, Paloniemi, Hökkä, & Eteläpelto, 2019). However, there is a lack of a clear conceptualisation of Teacher Agency. This project aims to thoroughly conceptualise Teacher Agency in a university context. If we know what characteristics and actions make a teacher agentic, we can more purposefully promote Teacher Agency.

Research question:
What characteristics of Teacher Agency can be identified in the academic teaching practice?

Method:
In our attempt to understand this hard concept to grasp, we examine five categories that imply agency; i.e. decision making at work, being heard at work, participation in shared work practices, transforming work practices, and negotiating professional identity (Vähäsantanen et al., 2019). For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Dutch academics (N=35). Participants ranged from early career academics to full professors. Approximately equal numbers of men (n=20) and women (n=15) participated. Academics from different faculties who held or were in the process of obtaining a teaching qualification were approached. The online interviews lasted between 40 and 60 minutes. The coding process is iterative in nature and aims to adapt and reform the five categories to the university context.

Preliminary findings:
All participants experience a great deal - though not complete - freedom of decision making in the design of their course. Course development is often the responsibility of the lecturer, which provides a sense of ownership over educational practice. However, there are differences in academics not being heard by their supervisor when it comes to work pressure, among other issues. There is a lack of recognition for being an excellent lecturer, which makes one feel unsupported in teaching. The best way to get promoted is to do excellent research, which is a contradiction as academics need to research and teach. During the presentation, I will elaborate on the theoretical background and the final results of this study. Reformed or modified characteristics of Teacher Agency will be presented.

References:
[1] Oolbekkink-Marchand, H.W., Hadar, L., Smith, K., Helleve, I., & Ulvik, M. (2017). Teachers’ perceived professional space and their agency. Teaching and Teacher Education, 62, 37-46.
[2] Toom, A., Pyhältö, K., & O'Connell Rust, F. (2015). Teachers' professional agency in contradictory times. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21, 615-623
[3] Vähäsantanen, K., Paloniemi, S., Räikkönen, E., & Hökkä, P. (2020). Professional agency in a university context: Academic freedom and fetters. Teaching and Teacher Education, 89, 103000.
[4] Vähäsantanen, K., Räikkönen, E., Paloniemi, S., Hökkä, P., & Eteläpelto, A. (2019). A novel instrument to measure the multidimensional structure of professional agency. Vocations and Learning, 12(2), 267-295.

Keywords:

Teacher Agency, Higher Education, Academics, Professional Development.