Teacher Agency Following the Ecological Model: How It Is Achieved and How It Could Be Strengthened by Different Types of Reflection

Abstract

This article draws on the ecological model of teacher agency and elaborates on how teacher agency is achieved, its components and how it could be strengthened. This model highlights professional competence, structural and cultural context, and professional purpose as the main elements of achieving agency. In this paper, we specify some elements of the ecological model and elaborate on how three types of reflection could be used to strengthen conditions for achieving teacher agency. These include, first, procedures aimed at articulating the theory of action, including effective strategies, rules and principles for practice; second, procedures of practical reflection, aimed at fostering the conceptualization of practice and the understanding of oneself as a teacher; and third, procedures of critical reflection, which help to address the inequalities and malpractices of education and society. The main importance of this paper is to extend the practical relevance of the ecological model for teacher learning settings.

What Is the Effect of Using Mobile Augmented Reality in K12 Inquiry-Based Learning?

“…In this way, the decision to use or not use some specific technology in an educational context depends on the technology, the environment and the people. This is in line with the ecological model of agency (see [3,4]), which highlights that the agency in decision making is not the ability of a human but a combination of the competence and purposes of the human in the context of the environmental conditions. In order to make a decision to use some technology in a learning situation depends first on the professional competence of the learner (do I have the needed knowledge and skills, do I value the use of technology?)…”

What is the Effect of Using Mobile Augmented Reality in K12 Inquiry-Based Learning?

“…In this way, the decision to use or not use some specific technology in an educational context depends on the technology, environment, and the people. This is in line with the ecological model of agency (see [3,4]), which highlights that the agency in decision making is not the ability of a human but a combination of the competence and purposes of the human in the context of the environmental conditions. In order to make a decision to use some technology in a learning situation depends first on the professional competence of the learner (do I have the needed knowledge and skills, do I value the use of technology) and his/her purposes (do I have goals that could be achieved using technology, do I have goals to achieve transferable skills and positive attitudes towards technology).…”

Kaasav haridus ja õpetajakoolitus sotsiaal-kultuurilisest käsitlusest lähtudes

“…Sellisel juhul ei teadvusta isik kultuurilist mõju, millega ta kokku puutub, ega seda, kuidas see on omandatud ning kuidas vahendab inimese mõtteviisi ja tegevust. See on vahendamine, mis ei teadvustu inimesele esimesel hetkel, kuid võib teadvustuda järele mõeldes (Leijen, Pedaste, & Lepp, 2019). Selleks et paremini aru saada, kuidas õpetajad täidavad ja mõistavad oma rolli õppetöös, tuleb ära tunda otsesed ja kaudsed vahendamisilmingud (nt Radišić & Baucal, 2016, 2018.…”