scholarly journals Teacher Agency Through Collaborative Expertise-building

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Ruanni Tupas ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Educational Reform ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Institutional Constraints ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
Capacity To Act ◽  
Everyday Classroom

Drawing on teacher agentive acts in the process of collaborative expertise-building in selects tertiary institutions in Southeast Asia, this paper maps out the conceptual configurations of teacher agency. In doing so, it avoids both the overly deterministic and individualistic views of agency by locating it within structuring conditions where individual acts are also mobilized. However, while most socially constructive views of agency focus on situated and institutional constraints of agency, this paper conceptualizes teacher agency in its broadest possible sense as historical, cultural and ideological phenomenon, arguing that agentive acts cannot merely be seen as either working for or against educational reform and transformation; rather teachers must take control of the process of knowledge production because it is by doing so that teachers can take ownership over their everyday classroom tactics and practices. Teacher agency in this sense is not simply a capacity to act but, in fact, an accomplishment of acts of producing knowledge for one’s professional practice.

scholarly journals Understanding the Professional Practice of Teachers of Chinese as an Additional Language through the Lens of Teacher Agency

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7493
Author(s):  
Min Bao ◽  
Wei Ren ◽  
Danping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Materials Development ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

Teacher agency plays a key role in sustaining the professional practice of language teachers, including teachers of Chinese as an additional language (CAL), to ensure sustainable multilingualism in universities. This paper reports on an exploratory study that examined five CAL teachers’ experiences of using teaching materials in a leading Belarussian university. Drawing on theorization about teacher agency, the analysis of the participants’ experiences helped to reveal the manifestations of teacher agency in their engagement with teaching materials in their teaching, which emerged from interactions between individual aspirations and contextual conditions. In particular, the findings highlight that three factors, namely teachers’ beliefs, teacher identity, and relationships within their community, play significant roles in mediating the participants’ exercise of agency in using teaching materials. The findings not only contribute to the conceptualization of teacher agency, but suggest that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and materials development of CAL teachers should be emphasized in supporting effective teaching, so that they can achieve sustainable professional practice to ensure sustainable multilingualism in universities.

Teacher agency and professional practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-87
Author(s):  
Tebeje Molla ◽  
Andrea Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Teacher Agency

Knowledge Hierarchy of Social Work and Gender Studies in Spain

Affilia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belén Agrela Romero ◽  
Amalia Morales Villena
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Gender Studies ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Specialized Training ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Knowledge Hierarchy ◽  
University Reforms

This article explores the gendered nature of social work and some of the consequences this has in academia, research, and professional practice in Spain. The authors examine the connections between social work and gender studies in academia in Spain, reflecting on the position these disciplines occupy in the current hierarchy of knowledge and the knowledge production system. The impact of the university reforms under the European Union’s (EU) Bologna plan is analyzed in the context of the commercialization of knowledge. The obstacles that prevent the value of these disciplines from being recognized are discussed, linking the academic dimension to the professional dimension and also illustrating how today’s situations of social exclusion require further research and specialized training in social work and gender.

scholarly journals Knowledge Production in Natural History between Southeast Asia and the Low Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Maria-Theresia Leuker ◽  
Charlotte Kießling ◽  
Anjana Singh
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Low Countries

scholarly journals Predicting Success in the Embryology Lab: The Use of Algorithmic Technologies in Knowledge Production

2021 ◽  
pp. 016224392110571
Author(s):  
Alina Geampana ◽  
Manuela Perrotta
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Fertility Treatment ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Predicting Success ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
And Training

This article analyzes local algorithmic practices resulting from the increased use of time-lapse (TL) imaging in fertility treatment. The data produced by TL technologies are expected to help professionals pick the best embryo for implantation. The emergence of TL has been characterized by promissory discourses of deeper embryo knowledge and expanded selection standardization, despite professionals having no conclusive evidence that TL improves pregnancy rates. Our research explores the use of TL tools in embryology labs. We pay special attention to standardization efforts and knowledge-creation facilitated through TL and its incorporated algorithms. Using ethnographic data from five UK clinical sites, we argue that knowledge generated through TL is contingent upon complex human–machine interactions that produce local uncertainties. Thus, algorithms do not simply add medical knowledge. Rather, they rearrange professional practice and expertise. Firstly, we show how TL changes lab routines and training needs. Secondly, we show that the human input TL requires renders the algorithm itself an uncertain and situated practice. This, in turn, raises professional questions about the algorithm’s authority in embryo selection. The article demonstrates the embedded nature of algorithmic knowledge production, thus pointing to the need for STS scholarship to further explore the locality of algorithms and AI.

scholarly journals The Autonomous Thinking Teacher: Preparing English Teachers for the 21st Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-115
Author(s):  
Alexius Chia ◽  
◽  
Stefanie Chye ◽  
Bee-Leng Chua ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Learner Needs ◽  
Teacher Model

This concept paper describes the changes made to Singapore’s initial teacher preparation (ITP) programmes with a specific focus on its thinking teacher model (NIE, 2009) – a model of teacher agency and an approach to ITP that requires self-reflection on roles and practice, understanding theories and research, and adapting to changing learner needs (Tan & Liu, 2015). An important component of this model is a ‘meta’ course which all pre-service teachers are required to undergo. This ‘meta’ course called Professional Practice and Inquiry (PPI) initiative – which was introduced to develop reflective professionals – cuts through the entire ITP programme providing them with both a framework and a platform to curate their understandings across all their courses, reflect deeply about teaching and learning and highlight their best work. This paper demonstrates, by the use of vignettes from their reflective pieces, how the goals and various components made possible by the PPI initiative provided the impetus for English pre-service teachers to develop into autonomous thinking teachers.

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