Manifestation of Agency by English Language Teachers in Relation to Thailand’s Language Assessment Policy
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Published:
May 12, 2021
Keywords:
Agency Teacher agency English language education policy English language assessment policy Thailand’s higher education
Main Article Content
Abstract
The concept of human agency has received increasing attention in the field of education in the past decade. Yet, education researchers, those in the area of English language teaching included, still have much to grapple with in exploring and conceptualizing agency of teachers—or teacher agency. The current study thus aims to contribute to greater understanding of teacher agency in relation to the English language assessment policy of Thailand’s higher education. Insights are gleaned from questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews with 26 English language teachers of various nationalities, currently teaching undergraduatelevel English, from nine public and nine private higher education institutions across Thailand. Findings reveal five types of manifestation of teacher agency and the various degrees in which personal and ecological factors influence each manifestation type. It also appears that manifestation of
teacher agency depends not so much on the direct demands of policy mandates as on the teachers’ personal dispositions being mediated—or subjugated—by their institutional culture and structure.
Article Details
How to Cite
Dhammarungruang, B., & Wudthayagorn, J. (2021). Manifestation of Agency by English Language Teachers in Relation to Thailand’s Language Assessment Policy. REFLections, 28(2), 168–187. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v28i2.251286
Section
Research articles
References
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Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 21-41.
Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(3), 75-78.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164-180.
Benesch, S. (2018). Emotions as agency: Feeling rules, emotion labor, and English language teachers’ decision-making. System, 79, 60-69.
Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2015). The role of beliefs in teacher agency. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(6), 624-640.
Clegg, S. (2005). Theorising the mundane: The significance of agency. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 15(2), 149-163.
Coffman, A. N. (2015). Teacher agency and education policy. The New Educator, 11(4), 322-332.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Pearson Education.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962-1023.
Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45-65.
Fitzpatrick, D. (2011). Making sense of the English language policy in Thailand: An exploration of teachers’ practices and dispositions [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Exeter]. University of Exeter Repository. https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10036/3314
Fuchs, S. (2001). Beyond agency. Sociological Theory, 19(1), 24-40.
Hitlin, S., & Elder Jr., G. (2007). Time, self, and the curiously abstract concept of agency. Sociological Theory, 25(2), 170-191.
Hiver, P., & Whitehead, G. E. K. (2018). Sites of struggle: Classroom practice and the complex dynamic entanglement of language teacher agency and identity. System, 79, 70-80.
Hornberger, N. H., Tapia, A. A., Hanks, D. H., Dueñas, F. K., & Lee, S. (2018). Ethnography of language planning and policy. Language Teaching, 51(2), 152-186.
Johnson, D. C., & Johnson, E. J. (2015). Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221-243.
Kachru, B. (1989). World Englishes and applied linguistics. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, 19(1), 127-152.
Kirkpatrick, A., & Liddicoat, A. J. (2017). Language education policy and practice in East and Southeast Asia. Language Teaching, 50(2), 155-188.
Liyanage, I., Bartlett, B., Walker, T., & Guo, X. (2015). Assessment policies, curricular directives, and teacher agency: Quandaries of EFL teachers in Inner Mongolia. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9(3), 251-264.
Loo, D. B., Trakulkasemsuk, W., & Jimarkon Zilli, P. (2017). Examining narratives of conflict and agency: Insights into non-local English teacher identity. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 14(2), 292-306.
Luhman, J., & Cunliffe, A. (2013). Key concepts in organization theory. Sage.
Miller, E. R., Kayi-Aydar, H., Varghese, M., & Vitanova, G. (2018). Editors’ introduction to interdisciplinarity in language teacher agency: Theoretical and analytical explorations. System, 79, 1-6.
Office of the Education Council. (2017). National Education Plan B. E. 2560–2579. Bangkok: Office of the Education Council, Ministry of Education.
Office of the Higher Education Commission. (2016). English language development policy in higher education institutions. Bangkok: Office of the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education.
Ollerhead, S. (2010). Teacher agency and policy response in the adult ESL literacy classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 44(3), 606-618.
Pantić, N. (2015). A model for study of teacher agency for social justice. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(6), 759-778.
Phan, T. T. H., & Hamid, M. O. (2017). Learner autonomy in foreign language policies in Vietnamese universities: An exploration of teacher agency from a sociocultural perspective. Current Issues in Language Planning, 18(1), 39-56.
Prabjandee, D. (2019). Unwelcome truths of the professional learning community policy in Thailand: Teacher’s sensemaking. Issues in Educational Research, 29(1), 223-242.
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., Philippou, S., & Robinson, S. (2016). The teacher and the curriculum: Exploring teacher agency. In D. Wyse, L. Hayward & J. Pandya (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (Vol. 1). Sage.
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsbury Academic.
Priestley, M., Edwards, R., Priestley, A., & Miller, K. (2012). Teacher agency in curriculum making: Agents of change and spaces for manoeuvre. Curriculum Inquiry, 42(2), 191-214.
Robinson, S. (2012). Constructing teacher agency in response to the constraints of education policy: Adoption and adaptation. The Curriculum Journal, 23(2), 231-245.
Sloan, K. (2006). Teacher identity and agency in school w orlds: Beyond the all-good/all-bad discourse on accountability-explicit curriculum policies. Curriculum Inquiry, 36(2), 119-152.
The World Bank Group. (2020). World Development Indicators: Population. Retrieved from http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/themes/people.html
Van der Heijden, H. R. M. A., Beijaard, D., Geldens, J. J. M., & Popeijus, H. L. (2018). Understanding teachers as change agents: An investigation of primary school teachers’ self-perception. Journal of Educational Change, 19, 347-373.
Van Huy, N., & Hamid, M. O. (2015). Educational policy borrowing in a globalized world: A case study of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in a Vietnamese university. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 14(1), 60-74.
Van Huy, N., Hamid, M. O., & Renshaw, P. (2016). Language education policy enactment and individual agency: The cauldron of conflicts in policy positions in implementing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in Vietnam. Language Problems & Language Planning, 40(1), 69-84.
Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 21-41.
Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(3), 75-78.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164-180.
Benesch, S. (2018). Emotions as agency: Feeling rules, emotion labor, and English language teachers’ decision-making. System, 79, 60-69.
Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2015). The role of beliefs in teacher agency. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(6), 624-640.
Clegg, S. (2005). Theorising the mundane: The significance of agency. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 15(2), 149-163.
Coffman, A. N. (2015). Teacher agency and education policy. The New Educator, 11(4), 322-332.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Pearson Education.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962-1023.
Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45-65.
Fitzpatrick, D. (2011). Making sense of the English language policy in Thailand: An exploration of teachers’ practices and dispositions [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Exeter]. University of Exeter Repository. https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10036/3314
Fuchs, S. (2001). Beyond agency. Sociological Theory, 19(1), 24-40.
Hitlin, S., & Elder Jr., G. (2007). Time, self, and the curiously abstract concept of agency. Sociological Theory, 25(2), 170-191.
Hiver, P., & Whitehead, G. E. K. (2018). Sites of struggle: Classroom practice and the complex dynamic entanglement of language teacher agency and identity. System, 79, 70-80.
Hornberger, N. H., Tapia, A. A., Hanks, D. H., Dueñas, F. K., & Lee, S. (2018). Ethnography of language planning and policy. Language Teaching, 51(2), 152-186.
Johnson, D. C., & Johnson, E. J. (2015). Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221-243.
Kachru, B. (1989). World Englishes and applied linguistics. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, 19(1), 127-152.
Kirkpatrick, A., & Liddicoat, A. J. (2017). Language education policy and practice in East and Southeast Asia. Language Teaching, 50(2), 155-188.
Liyanage, I., Bartlett, B., Walker, T., & Guo, X. (2015). Assessment policies, curricular directives, and teacher agency: Quandaries of EFL teachers in Inner Mongolia. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9(3), 251-264.
Loo, D. B., Trakulkasemsuk, W., & Jimarkon Zilli, P. (2017). Examining narratives of conflict and agency: Insights into non-local English teacher identity. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 14(2), 292-306.
Luhman, J., & Cunliffe, A. (2013). Key concepts in organization theory. Sage.
Miller, E. R., Kayi-Aydar, H., Varghese, M., & Vitanova, G. (2018). Editors’ introduction to interdisciplinarity in language teacher agency: Theoretical and analytical explorations. System, 79, 1-6.
Office of the Education Council. (2017). National Education Plan B. E. 2560–2579. Bangkok: Office of the Education Council, Ministry of Education.
Office of the Higher Education Commission. (2016). English language development policy in higher education institutions. Bangkok: Office of the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education.
Ollerhead, S. (2010). Teacher agency and policy response in the adult ESL literacy classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 44(3), 606-618.
Pantić, N. (2015). A model for study of teacher agency for social justice. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(6), 759-778.
Phan, T. T. H., & Hamid, M. O. (2017). Learner autonomy in foreign language policies in Vietnamese universities: An exploration of teacher agency from a sociocultural perspective. Current Issues in Language Planning, 18(1), 39-56.
Prabjandee, D. (2019). Unwelcome truths of the professional learning community policy in Thailand: Teacher’s sensemaking. Issues in Educational Research, 29(1), 223-242.
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., Philippou, S., & Robinson, S. (2016). The teacher and the curriculum: Exploring teacher agency. In D. Wyse, L. Hayward & J. Pandya (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (Vol. 1). Sage.
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsbury Academic.
Priestley, M., Edwards, R., Priestley, A., & Miller, K. (2012). Teacher agency in curriculum making: Agents of change and spaces for manoeuvre. Curriculum Inquiry, 42(2), 191-214.
Robinson, S. (2012). Constructing teacher agency in response to the constraints of education policy: Adoption and adaptation. The Curriculum Journal, 23(2), 231-245.
Sloan, K. (2006). Teacher identity and agency in school w orlds: Beyond the all-good/all-bad discourse on accountability-explicit curriculum policies. Curriculum Inquiry, 36(2), 119-152.
The World Bank Group. (2020). World Development Indicators: Population. Retrieved from http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/themes/people.html
Van der Heijden, H. R. M. A., Beijaard, D., Geldens, J. J. M., & Popeijus, H. L. (2018). Understanding teachers as change agents: An investigation of primary school teachers’ self-perception. Journal of Educational Change, 19, 347-373.
Van Huy, N., & Hamid, M. O. (2015). Educational policy borrowing in a globalized world: A case study of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in a Vietnamese university. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 14(1), 60-74.
Van Huy, N., Hamid, M. O., & Renshaw, P. (2016). Language education policy enactment and individual agency: The cauldron of conflicts in policy positions in implementing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in Vietnam. Language Problems & Language Planning, 40(1), 69-84.