agency have been introduced. However, the empirical research on teachers’ professional agency is still scarce (e.g. Eteläpelto, Vähäsantanen, Hökkä, & Paloniemi, 2013; Toom, Karvonen, & Husu, submitted). (p.615) Still, we know little about the characteristics of teacher agency in different phases of the teaching career, the impact of teacher education on teacher agency, and the influences of multiple educational policy contexts shaping and reshaping the professional agency of teachers. (p.615) The idea of a teacher as an active agent at the school level has long been central in educational research as well as practices and policies. The notion of teacher agency has emerged in research to describe teachers’ active efforts to make choices and intentional action in a way that makes a significant difference. Teachers are required to engage in innovative learning, adapt themselves to diverse requirements in their working environment, interpret and negotiate with both their colleagues and with parents the multiple possibilities implied by policies, make independent choices and find a balance between their personal preferences and shared collegial understandings. Through these efforts, teachers aim at building a relevant, inspiring and constructive environment for their pupils and themselves and their colleagues in changing professional contexts. (p.615) Teachers’ active professional agency is, however more than just coping with challenging professional situations. Agentic teachers perceive themselves as pedagogical experts who have the capability of intentional and responsible management of new learning at both individual and community levels (Pyhältö, Pietarinen, & Soini, in press). This entails intentionally interacting with others as a resource for learning and acting as a support for them (Edwards, 2005; Pyhältö & Keskinen, 2012). Teachers’ professional agency refers also to teacher’s ability to act in new and creative ways, and even to resist external norms and regulations when they are understood to contrast or conflict with professionally justifiable action (Dovemark, 2010; Florio-Ruane, 2002; Lasky, 2005; Milne, Scantlebury, & Otieno, 2006). (p.615) Teachers’ professional agency is not a fixed disposition of an individual teacher, rather, it is constructed situationally in relation to the current context and past personal experiences
agency have been introduced. However, the empirical research on teachers’ professional agency is still scarce (e.g. Eteläpelto, Vähäsantanen, Hökkä, & Paloniemi, 2013; Toom, Karvonen, & Husu, submitted). (p.615) Still, we know little about the characteristics of teacher agency in different phases of the teaching career, the impact of teacher education on teacher agency, and the influences of multiple educational policy contexts shaping and reshaping the professional agency of teachers. (p.615) The idea of a teacher as an active agent at the school level has long been central in educational research as well as practices and policies. The notion of teacher agency has emerged in research to describe teachers’ active efforts to make choices and intentional action in a way that makes a significant difference. Teachers are required to engage in innovative learning, adapt themselves to diverse requirements in their working environment, interpret and negotiate with both their colleagues and with parents the multiple possibilities implied by policies, make independent choices and find a balance between their personal preferences and shared collegial understandings. Through these efforts, teachers aim at building a relevant, inspiring and constructive environment for their pupils and themselves and their colleagues in changing professional contexts. (p.615) Teachers’ active professional agency is, however more than just coping with challenging professional situations. Agentic teachers perceive themselves as pedagogical experts who have the capability of intentional and responsible management of new learning at both individual and community levels (Pyhältö, Pietarinen, & Soini, in press). This entails intentionally interacting with others as a resource for learning and acting as a support for them (Edwards, 2005; Pyhältö & Keskinen, 2012). Teachers’ professional agency refers also to teacher’s ability to act in new and creative ways, and even to resist external norms and regulations when they are understood to contrast or conflict with professionally justifiable action (Dovemark, 2010; Florio-Ruane, 2002; Lasky, 2005; Milne, Scantlebury, & Otieno, 2006). (p.615) Teachers’ professional agency is not a fixed disposition of an individual teacher, rather, it is constructed situationally in relation to the current context and past personal experiences