Relational dimensions of teacher agency: Five purposes for exercising agency in university

Abstract

Understanding why academics exercise teacher agency is essential because university teaching takes place within complex, dynamic, and often constraining contexts that require purposeful decision-making. Teacher agency can be understood as the capacity to act purposefully and make informed choices within particular teaching practices. Using an ecological lens, we distinguish between what agency is and what agency is for. Scenario-based interviews with 12 university teachers from a Scottish university revealed why academics enact agency in university teaching. Findings show that academics use teacher agency to pursue a range of purposes: 1) navigating contextual structures; 2) moral and ethical purposes; 3) negotiating personal and institutional goals; 4) care and connection purposes; and 5) directing professional growth. This study also provides empirical insight into the relational, interpretive, and value-laden nature of teacher agency in a university.