The Multifaceted Nature of Agency and Professional Learning

Paloniemi, Susanna; Göller, Michael

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-60943-0_23

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The main question for this study was how and under what circumstances proximity promotes transformation of knowledge and practice of co-workers from different disciplines. Co-location of services is seen as a promising way to enhance co-work, but it is not clear how co-location can spark collaboration and transformation in inclusive educational settings (Paloniemi and Goller 2017). The results indicate that proximity can be divided in three different types, being spatial proximity, organisational proximity and personal proximity.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Arguably, it is easier for professionals to have meetings and consultations when working within the same building. However, whether or not this is effective in terms of collaboration and transformation is still unclear (Paloniemi and Goller 2017). The present study seeks to shed light on the relation between proximity and transformation in co-located settings.…”

Section: Analytic Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Creating an optimal environment for inclusive education: co-location and transformation in interdisciplinary collaboration

Gerdes

Goei

Huizinga

et al. 2020

European Journal of Special Needs Education

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Collaboration between teachers and child support workers is seen as a promising way to effectuate inclusive practice in mainstream education. This paper aims to explore how co-location of services promotes transformation of practice, and to expand an analytic framework for interdisciplinary collaboration. By combining these two perspectives, we intend to contribute to both theory and practice. The data consist of semi-structured interviews that explore the experiences of teachers and child support workers who co-work in three schools for secondary education. A template analysis was used to examine collaboration in co-location, and to further develop the framework with which we began our empirical research. The initial template consisted of dimensions of knowledge sharing in relation to dimensions of trust and dimensions of identity. The results showed that proximity can be divided into three different types, being spatial proximity, organisational proximity and personal proximity. These types of proximity, in turn, can be related to knowledge sharing, trust and identity. The contribution of the expanded framework for practice lies in its potential to shed light on how processes in interdisciplinary collaboration can be shaped.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Analytic Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating an optimal environment for inclusive education: co-location and transformation in interdisciplinary collaboration

Gerdes

Goei

Huizinga

et al. 2020

European Journal of Special Needs Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In current literature, professional agency has been conceptualized in several ways in working life research, and via a range of theoretical approaches, utilizing psychological, sociological, and sociocultural theories (see Damsa et al 2017;Eteläpelto et al 2013;Heiskanen & Jokinen 2015). In particular, professional agency has been approached from two perspectives (Paloniemi & Goller 2017), as follows.…”

Section: Professional Agency In Work Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, they do not simply respond to certain allotted work responsibilities and environments; rather, they are active and influential constructors of the work practices, environments, careers, and identities pertaining to their work (Billett 2011;Eteläpelto 2017;Harteis et al 2020;Tynjälä 2013). In line with agentic notions on professionals within work settings, researchers have paid increasing attention to professional agency, focusing on its importance for the development, innovativeness, and success of organizations, and for the learning, creativity, and wellbeing of the professionals who work in them (Damsa et al 2017;Goller & Paloniemi 2017;Haapasaari & Kerosuo 2015;Vähäsantanen et al 2017b). Agency is also at the heart of discussions regarding career and identity in the processes of changing working life (LaPointe & Heilmann 2014;Vähäsantanen et al 2017a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In workplace learning and working life studies, professional agency refers to the notion that professionals act, participate, and belong within social communities, and that they have the power to affect matters and to make decisions, for example in relation to their work and professional identities (e.g. Goller & Billett 2014;Goller & Paloniemi 2017;Heiskanen & Jokinen 2015). To date, emergent discussions on professional agency have mostly been based on qualitative research, and the topic has not generally been addressed via quantitative measures within working life (for exceptions, see Goller 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acting Agentically at Work: Developing a Short Measure of Professional Agency

Vähäsantanen

Räikkönen

Paloniemi

et al. 2021

NJWLS

Self Cite

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Although professional agency has become an increasingly crucial issue in work organizations, investigators lack a brief instrument to measure it. This paper introduces a short measure to explore professional agency at work. Our aim was to shorten the original 17-item Professional Agency Measure, while also exploring its usability for cross-validating questionnaire datasets, and investigating the relationship between professional agency and work engagement. Three dimensions of professional agency emerged, with three items per dimension, across the domains of healthcare, real estate services, and information technology (all within Finland). All the dimensions (Influencing at work, Participation at work, and Negotiating professional identity) showed good reliability. The results further revealed that these dimensions of agency are distinct from, but closely and positively linked to work engagement. In particular, our research offers a reliable, short measure of professional agency that is relevant across professional domains in the Nordic context.

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Agency: Taking Stock of Workplace Learning Research

Göller

Paloniemi

2022

Professional and Practice-Based Learning

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This chapter presents a discussion of the concept of agency. Agency is understood as a multifaceted construct describing the idea that human beings make choices, act on these choices, and thereby exercise influence on their own lives as well as their environment. We argue that the concept is discussed from three different perspectives in the literature-transformational, dispositional, and relational-that are each related to learning and development in work contexts. These perspectives do not reflect incompatible positions but rather different aspects of the same phenomena. The chapter also offers an avenue of insight into empirical studies that employ agency as a central concept as well as discussions about concepts that closely overlap with ideas of human beings as agents of power and influence.

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The Multifaceted Nature of Agency and Professional Learning

Cited by 12 publications

References 45 publications

Creating an optimal environment for inclusive education: co-location and transformation in interdisciplinary collaboration

Creating an optimal environment for inclusive education: co-location and transformation in interdisciplinary collaboration

Acting Agentically at Work: Developing a Short Measure of Professional Agency

Agency: Taking Stock of Workplace Learning Research

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