An exploration of agency in the stories of dual qualified cross-phase teachers (14-19) at a time of curriculum reform

This study explores the concept of teacher agency through the stories of specialist teachers who undertook a unique cross phase initial teacher preparation course equipping them to teach a vocational 14-19 Diploma in 2008-2010. Unlike others, these teachers learned to teach and build professional relationships across boundaried professional spaces of secondary school and further education settings, which each had different structures, cultures and professional characteristics. The development of a conceptual framework to understand how teachers’ agency is achieved, combines three ecological models which provide the structure guiding this study. Adopting a pragmatic position, a life history approach is used to explore these teachers’ experiences over time and their relationships in three specific domains: the social, connected to teachers, the cognitive connected to the curriculum and the emotional connected to the professional self. This exploration leads to an understanding of what shaped their agency and how they were policy resistant following the change in governments in 2010 and the subsequent change in curriculum strategy. The data demonstrates that early and present-day experiences and relationships with other teachers and the curriculum were important to participants’ achievement of agency as teachers and their understanding of themselves as professionals. In particular, relationships which led to teachers being valued, motivated and supported were powerful forces in the shaping of their agency. Additionally, these relationships aided them in navigating their career paths. These findings make an original contribution to the discussion about teacher agency and could have implications for important aspects of initial teacher education and continuing professional development.