Human Agency at Work: Towards a Clarification and Operationalisation of the Concept

Göller, Michael; Harteis, Christian

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-60943-0_5

Cited by 42 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Despite the learning opportunities and vocational pathways provided, individuals eventually decide how they can or choose to engage in these learning opportunities (e.g. Billett 2004;Goller and Harteis 2017). Often apprentices were autonomous workers, whereas a student role enabled the focus to be on learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The choice of engaging is also related to agency that is often considered as an individual feature or something that individuals do (Goller and Harteis 2017). Often, agency is considered relevant or even a necessary condition for learning, for example, novice aides were expected to actively seek information, feedback and social interaction to get access to new learning opportunities (Goller et al 2018).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, the focus is on these kinds of learners' agentic actions that may include versatile "self-initiated and goal-directed behaviours that aim to take control over the work environment and/or the acting individual's life" (Goller and Harteis 2017, p. 88). Agency is also influenced by the context (Eteläpelto 2017;Goller and Harteis 2017). For example, learners' engagement and agency can be influenced by providing them with a legitimate and influential role, allowing autonomy and independent work instead of a marginalised position, and by providing opportunities to observe others and to receive guidance (Bouw et al 2019;Mikkonen et al 2017).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vocational Education and Learners’ Experienced Workplace Curriculum

Rintala

Nokelainen

2019

Vocations and Learning

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There has been a growing emphasis on providing students in vocational education and training (VET) with workplace experiences. School-based VET and apprenticeship training have been parallel routes in the Finnish VET system, but relatively little is known of their characteristics regarding students' experiences. This study addresses this research gap by investigating these two VET pathways and addressing the following research question: How do learners experience workplace learning on various learning pathways? This study further investigates three different vocational fields: social and health care, business and administration, and construction. The study was based on semi-structured individual interviews (N = 33): 18 of the participants were students in school-based VET, and 15 were apprentices. The interview data were analysed with thematic analysis. The themes highlighted how the VET pathway builds a frame for participation that is then shaped by work practices and social practices and how, eventually, individuals alter boundaries to participation. The study implies that the two VET pathways, school-based VET and apprenticeship training, have significant differences. However, in the construction sector, differences between students' experiences of workplace learning seem to be less visible. Based on learning experiences, it seems that apprenticeship training and school-based VET cannot be considered parallel or interchangeable routes. This should be acknowledged because the recent reform of vocational upper secondary education aims to advance a flexible combination of school-and work-based pathways, and it can also be considered when discussing the coherence of VET systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vocational Education and Learners’ Experienced Workplace Curriculum

Rintala

Nokelainen

2019

Vocations and Learning

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“…Teacher agency can also be viewed through an action-oriented perspective (cf. Goller and Harteis, 2017). In such a perspective, the focus is on the choices the people make as well as on their involvement and their active participation towards (social) change.…”

Section: The Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering transformational teacher agency in Finnish teacher education

Matikainen

Männistö

Fornaciari

2018

International Journal of Social Pedagogy

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In this article, we studied how well teacher education in Finland is able to answer the changing needs of the contemporary world. More precisely, we focussed on the question of how well an alternative teacher education model guides teacher students’ agency towards a transformational view of the teaching profession, making it possible for schools to enable social change. This question was studied in the framework of critical social pedagogy. The data for this article was collected ethnographically by observing meetings in the Critical Integrative Teacher Education (CITE) programme at the University of Jyväskylä in 2015–2017. The analysis is based on a theoretical background in which we outline two different discourses on the concept of teachers’ agency. The first promotes schools’ role in conservation; teachers are expected to educate obedient and uncritical citizens to maintain steady economic growth. The second discourse is defined as critical and emancipatory, where the education pursues transformation in students’ underlying attitudes and a deeper understanding of education and society. The results showed that the CITE model fosters teacher students’ critical self-reflection and understanding of group phenomena considering education. The students’ ability to understand schools in a social context also develops. However, CITE seems to struggle in transforming the students’ thinking and understanding into actions. According to the data, feelings of inability, cynicism and a lacklustre ability to understand concretely how teachers can have an impact on society through their profession prevent a more complete transformation in the students’ everyday modes of action. A stronger community perspective, collaboration with institutions outside teacher education, the enabling of group-oriented action and the provision of real-life experiences regarding the transformation could better help to develop future teachers’ agency towards transformational views.

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“…In seeking to determine the structure of professional agency, we have also utilised (in addition to research and theory within a subject-centred sociocultural approach) conceptualisations by a number of scholars in the field. Here it should be noted that one can undoubtedly see connections between professional agency and other work-related constructs, such as proactivity at work and job crafting (Goller and Harteis 2017;Goller and Paloniemi 2017). Nevertheless, in formulating the initial dimensions of professional agency, we did not utilise the literature on these other constructs, since we wished to engage with literature that explicitly addresses and conceptualises professional agency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Novel Instrument to Measure the Multidimensional Structure of Professional Agency

Vähäsantanen

Räikkönen

Paloniemi

et al. 2018

Vocations and Learning

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This study aimed to construct and validate a quantitative measurement instrument to determine the structure of professional agency in working life. Empirical data (N = 589) were collected via a web-based, theoretically informed questionnaire, within the professional domains of education, healthcare, rescue services, and information technology. The questionnaire items incorporated theoretically based dimensions of professional agency. The structure of professional agency was initially analysed via exploratory factor analysis. Thereafter, using exploratory structural equation modelling, the structure of professional agency was investigated with a view to confirmation and validation. The results indicated that the structure of professional agency included three dimensions: Influencing at Work, Developing Work Practices, and Negotiating Professional Identity. These dimensions appeared to be separate from but closely linked to other work-related constructs, notably Learning at Work and Emotionally Meaningful Work. The study enriches current theory on professional agency by shedding light on its multidimensional structure. In presenting an instrument for measuring professional agency, the study can benefit scholars and work organisations with an interest in researching and fostering professional agency in various work and educational contexts.

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Human Agency at Work: Towards a Clarification and Operationalisation of the Concept

Cited by 42 publications

References 75 publications

Vocational Education and Learners’ Experienced Workplace Curriculum

Vocational Education and Learners’ Experienced Workplace Curriculum

Fostering transformational teacher agency in Finnish teacher education

A Novel Instrument to Measure the Multidimensional Structure of Professional Agency

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