Researching teacher agency in elementary school science using positioning theory and grammar of agency

Journal article

Martin, Jenny. (2020). Researching teacher agency in elementary school science using positioning theory and grammar of agency. Journal of Science Teacher Education. 31(1), pp. 94-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2019.1666628
AuthorsMartin, Jenny
Abstract

The aim of the study is to better understand teacher agency in the provision of science education to elementary school students. This article takes a specific focus on an elementary school teacher, who positioned herself as agentic in science. The study employs grammar of agency for the operationalisation of human agency in discursive psychological terms. Teacher agency in science is defined in the study as a teachers’ positioning as professionally responsible for science teaching to varying degrees. The instrumental case of Denise, an early years teacher at an elementary school in Melbourne, Australia, provides new understanding of teacher agency in elementary school science developing as a process of self-positioning in relation to institutional practices and professional others, supported by professional development. It is of interest to designers of professional development programs, education researchers and leaders in elementary schools. Implications of the study include greater attention to the notion of relational agency in research and professional development provision for elementary school teachers in science.

Keywordsscience education; teacher education; discursive psychology; positioning theory; grammar of agency
Year2020
JournalJournal of Science Teacher Education
Journal citation31 (1), pp. 94-113
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN1046-560X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2019.1666628
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85074348711
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range94-113
Research GroupInstitute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE)
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online03 Oct 2019
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/88y54/researching-teacher-agency-in-elementary-school-science-using-positioning-theory-and-grammar-of-agency

Log in to edit

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 100
    total views
  • 1
    total downloads
  • 1
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Leadership in early childhood education : A cultural-historical theory of practice development
Nuttall, Joce, Henderson, Linda, Wood, Elizabeth and Martin, Jenny. (2024). Leadership in early childhood education : A cultural-historical theory of practice development Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51985-7
Positioning theory as a framework for understanding the facilitation of professional development for educational leaders
Martin, Jennifer Lynne, Nuttall, Jocelyn Grace, Wood, Elizabeth and Henderson, Linda. (2024). Positioning theory as a framework for understanding the facilitation of professional development for educational leaders. The Australian Educational Researcher. pp. 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-024-00700-9
Reconceptualising pedagogical leadership for quality in early childhood education : From individual dispositions to systemic creativity
Nuttall, Joce, Henderson, Linda, Wood, Elizabeth and Martin, Jenny. (2023). Reconceptualising pedagogical leadership for quality in early childhood education : From individual dispositions to systemic creativity. In In Hansen, Line Skov and Ringsmose, Charlotte (Ed.). Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care through Leadership and Organizational Learning: Organizational and professional development. pp. 221 - 237 Springer Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39419-5_13
Educational leadership in early childhood education : Participant vulnerability and a ‘rule of care’
Henderson, Linda, Nuttall, Joce, Wood, Elizabeth and Martin, Jenny. (2023). Educational leadership in early childhood education : Participant vulnerability and a ‘rule of care’. Journal of Early Childhood Research. 22(2), pp. 297-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X231210641
The potential of ‘leading identity’ as an analytic concept for understanding Educational Leadership development in early childhood education
Henderson, Linda, Nuttall, Joce, Wood, Elizabeth and Martin, Jenny. (2022). The potential of ‘leading identity’ as an analytic concept for understanding Educational Leadership development in early childhood education. Teachers and Teaching. 28(7), pp. 875-889. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2137140
Discourse analysis and multimodal meaning making in a science classroom : Meta-methodological insights from three theoretical perspectives
Jenny Martin, Lihua Xu and Lay Hoon Seah. (2021). Discourse analysis and multimodal meaning making in a science classroom : Meta-methodological insights from three theoretical perspectives. Research in Science Education. 51, pp. 187-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09961-7
Educational leaders and the project of professionalisation in early childhood education in Australia
Martin, Jenny, Nuttall, Joce, Henderson, Linda and Wood, Elizabeth. (2020). Educational leaders and the project of professionalisation in early childhood education in Australia. International Journal of Educational Research. 101, p. Article 101559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101559
Promoting Students’ Critical and Active Engagement in Socio-scientific Problems : Inter-Trans-national Perspectives
Bencze, Larry, Carter, Lynette, Groleau, Audrey, Krstovic, Mirjan, Levinson, Ralph, Martin, Jennifer Lynne, Martins, Isabel, Pouliot, Chantal and Weinstein, Matthew. (2019). Promoting Students’ Critical and Active Engagement in Socio-scientific Problems : Inter-Trans-national Perspectives. In Bridging Research and Practice in Science Education: Selected Papers from the ESERA 2017 Conference pp. 171-188 Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17219-0_11
Embedding ethics of care into primary science pedagogy : Reflections on our criticality
Carter, Lyn, Castano Rodriguez, Carolina and Martin, Jenny. (2019). Embedding ethics of care into primary science pedagogy : Reflections on our criticality. In In Bazzul, Jesse and Siry, Christina (Ed.). Critical voices in science education research : Narratives of hope and struggle pp. 59-71 Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99990-6_7
Students' perspectives of early assessment tasks in their first year at university
Thomas, Theda, Jacobs, Diane, Hurley, Laurine, Martin, Jenny, Maslyuk, Svetlana, Lyall, Mark and Ryan, Matthew. (2019). Students' perspectives of early assessment tasks in their first year at university. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 44(3), pp. 398-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1513992
Maintaining our critical work : Stories of curriculum making in initial teacher education
Martin, Jenny and King, Donna. (2019). Maintaining our critical work : Stories of curriculum making in initial teacher education. In In Bazzul, Jesse and Siry, Christina (Ed.). Critical voices in science education research : Narratives of hope and struggle pp. 115-125 Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99990-6_12
Rethinking equity : Standpoints emerging from a community project with victims of violence and abuse in Argentina
Rodriguez, Carolina Castano, Barraza, Laura and Martin, Jenny. (2019). Rethinking equity : Standpoints emerging from a community project with victims of violence and abuse in Argentina. Cultural Studies of Science Education. 14(2), pp. 393-409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09920-3
Researching primary teachers' professional agency: employing interactive ethnography to overcome reluctance to teach science
Martin, Jenny. (2019). Researching primary teachers' professional agency: employing interactive ethnography to overcome reluctance to teach science. Research in Science Education. 49(5), pp. 1279-1299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-017-9654-y
Finding ways to fill the void : A study of science preservice teachers’ self–positioning as consumers
Martin, Jenny and Carter, Lyn. (2018). Finding ways to fill the void : A study of science preservice teachers’ self–positioning as consumers. In In Reis, Giuliano, Mueller, Michael, Gisewhite, Rachel, Siveres, Luiz and Brito, Renato (Ed.). Sociocultural perspectives on youth ethical consumerism pp. 19-32 Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65608-3_2
"I had to take action straight away." Preservice teachers' accounts of pro-environmental action
Carter, Lyn and Martin, Jenny. (2018). "I had to take action straight away." Preservice teachers' accounts of pro-environmental action. In In Bencze, Larry (Ed.). Science and Technology Education Promoting Wellbeing for Individuals, Societies and Environments : STEPWISE pp. 523-537 Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55505-8_24
Ontology matters : A commentary on contribution to cultural historical activity
Martin, Jenny. (2018). Ontology matters : A commentary on contribution to cultural historical activity. Cultural Studies of Science Education. 13(3), pp. 639-647. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9809-1
Introduction
Nuttall, Joce, Kostogriz, Alex, Jones, Mellita and Martin, Jenny. (2017). Introduction. In In Nuttall, Joce, Kostogriz, Alex, Jones, Mellita and Martin, Jenny (Ed.). Teacher education policy and practice : Evidence of impact, impact of evidence pp. vii-xii Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4133-4
Becoming professionally agentic : Researching pedagogical reasoning in initial teacher education
Martin, Jenny, Keast, Stephen and Anders, Lucy. (2017). Becoming professionally agentic : Researching pedagogical reasoning in initial teacher education. In In Nuttall, Joce, Kostogriz, Alex, Jones, Mellita and Martin, Jenny (Ed.). Teacher education policy and practice : Evidence of impact, impact of evidence pp. 67-81 Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4133-4_5
The grammar of agency : Studying possibilities for student agency in science classroom discourse
Martin, Jenny. (2016). The grammar of agency : Studying possibilities for student agency in science classroom discourse. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. 10, pp. 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2016.01.003
Agency and learning : Researching agency in educational interactions
Rajala, Antti, Martin, Jenny and Kumpulainen, Kristiina. (2016). Agency and learning : Researching agency in educational interactions. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction. 10, pp. 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2016.07.001
Questioning collectives and agencies : A commentary on curricular choices
Arnold, Jenny. (2015). Questioning collectives and agencies : A commentary on curricular choices. Cultural Studies of Science Education. 10(2), pp. 437-444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-014-9592-1
Preservice teacher agency concerning education for sustainability (EfS) : A discursive psychological approach
Martin, Jenny and Carter, Lyn. (2015). Preservice teacher agency concerning education for sustainability (EfS) : A discursive psychological approach. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 52(4), pp. 560-573. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21217
What is 'agency'? Perspectives in science education research
Martin, Arnold and Clarke, David John. (2014). What is 'agency'? Perspectives in science education research. International Journal of Science Education. 36(5), pp. 735-754. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.825066
The use of video technology to enhance research capacity to meet scientific and moral criteria for evaluation for discursive psychological studies in education
Martin, Jenny and Clarke, David. (2012). The use of video technology to enhance research capacity to meet scientific and moral criteria for evaluation for discursive psychological studies in education. Joint AARE/APERA Inernational Conference. Sydney, NSW, Australia 2012 Australian Association for Research in Education. pp. 1-11
Science students’ classroom discourse : Tasha’s umwelt
Martin, Jenny. (2012). Science students’ classroom discourse : Tasha’s umwelt. Research in Science Education. 42(2), pp. 233-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-010-9195-0
Multi-theoretic approaches to understanding the science classroom
Clarke, David, Xu, Li Hua, Arnold, Jenny, Seah, Lay Hoon, Hart, Christina, Tytler, Russell and Prain, Vaughan. (2011). Multi-theoretic approaches to understanding the science classroom. The ESERA 2011 Conference : Science learning and Citizenship. Université de Lyon, Lyon, France 05 - 09 Sep 2011 Lyon, France: European Science Education Research Association. pp. 26-40