Development and validation of a potential assessment inventory for assessing EFL teachers’ ecological agency

Abstract

Teacher agency as an influential factor in teacher professionalism has recently gained global inquiry in the EFL context. However, no valid instrument has ever been designed to evaluate EFL teachers’ ecological agency. This gap prompted the researchers of the current study to develop and validate a questionnaire to assess EFL teachers’ ecological agency. In the first phase, a comprehensive review of the literature and semi-structured interviews were conducted to determine the underlying components of the teacher ecological (TEA) questionnaire based on Priestley et al.’s (Flip the System 134–148, 2015) ecological agency model. In the second phase, the newly developed TEA questionnaire including 40 items was subjected to reliability and validity issues. Therefore, it was piloted with 222 Iranian EFL teachers selected through non-probability convenience sampling. The Cronbach alpha results confirmed an acceptable reliability index (.858). The results of factor analysis revealed that the number of items was reduced to 37 and indicated that the data on teacher ecological agency loaded on 3 components: iterational (9 items), practical-evaluative (14 items), and projective (10 items). In addition, the structural equation modeling (SEM) results confirmed that the model enjoyed sound psychometric properties. The upshots of the current study have undoubtedly significant implications for teacher educators and teaching practitioners.

Unveiling the impact of language assessment teacher education on EFL teachers’ assessment agency and professional development trajectory: perceptions, opportunities, and challenges

“…Given its crucial part in L2 education, teacher agency has been considered in conjunction with education quality and teachers' professional growth (Lai et al, 2016). Although scholars have found it challenging to reach a consensus, they generally recognize agency as a "socio-culturally mediated capacity to act" (Ahearn, 2001, p. 112), which is an essential aspect of teachers' professional growth aimed at empowering them to take proactive measures and enact transformations (Ghamoushi et al, 2022;Leijen et al, 2021).…”