Article Gold Open Access 2025

Disentangling geography teacher educators' collective spaces of agency

Curriculum Journal
Journal
Abstract

Societal trends such as increased accountability, teacher shortages, and flexibility in learning paths affect the work of teacher educators. This study explores the collective agency of Dutch geography teacher educators as they enact the subject pedagogy curriculum within this rapidly changing context. Whilst teacher agency has been widely studied, research on teacher educators—particularly from a collective perspective—remains scarce. Drawing on Priestley et al.'s ecological approach, this study aims to disentangle teacher educators' collective spaces of agency by means of cultural, structural, and material resources. Using focus group interviews with three teams of geography teacher educators, we identified three key challenges that define their collective spaces of agency: (1) accommodating students' developmental phases, (2) gaining insight into students' internship learning, and (3) the growing divide between subject-specific and general teacher education. Thematic analysis revealed that teams of educators experience a different sense of agency in each of these spaces, depending on their ability to draw on the available resources. Our findings show that teams of educators draw on strong subject teacher identities (cultural resources) and experience collective agency when enacting subject pedagogy at the course level (structural resources). Their sense of agency is weak at the institutional level, particularly in relation to curricular change. This study contributes to a more profound understanding of teacher educators' collective spaces of agency. Disentangling these spaces can help teams of teacher educators to identify the necessary resources to restore their sense of agency in difficult times. © 2025 The Author(s). The Curriculum Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Teacher Agency collective agency subject pedagogy teacher educators

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Faculty of Geosciences, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, Research Centre for Learning and Innovation, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands
Faculty of Geosciences, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Research Centre for Learning and Innovation, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands, Faculty of Humanities, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Funding & Acknowledgements
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO
This publication is part of the project \u2018PCK\u2010development of BEd. Geography students in the Netherlands\u2019. This project is granted under project number 023.016.004 by the Doctoral Grants for Teachers programme, financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
References 10 References
1 Bandura, Albert, Toward a Psychology of Human Agency: Pathways and Reflections, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13, 2, pp. 130-136, (2018)
2 Thematic Analysis A Practical Guide, (2021)
3 Brooks, Clare, Teacher Subject Identity in Professional Practice: Teaching with a professional compass, Teacher Subject Identity in Professional Practice: Teaching with a professional compass, pp. 1-154, (2016)
4 What Makes Great Teaching Review of the Underpinning Research, (2014)
5 Cong-Lem, Ngo, Teacher agency: A systematic review of international literature, Issues in Educational Research, 31, 3, pp. 718-738, (2021)
6 Davey, Ronnie, The professional identity of teacher educators: Career on the cusp?, The Professional Identity of Teacher Educators: Career on the Cusp?, pp. 1-198, (2013)
7 undefined, (2022)
8 Kennisbasis Lerarenopleiders Katern 2 De Context Van Het Opleiden Van Leraren, (2016)
9 Deschênes, Michelle, Methodology to Study Teacher Agency: A Systematic Review of the Literature, European Journal of Educational Research, 11, 4, pp. 2459-2474, (2022)
10 Emirbayer, Mustafa, What is agency?, American Journal of Sociology, 103, 4, pp. 962-1023, (1998)
Quick Actions
Full Text via DOI
Citation Metrics
0
Times Cited (Scopus)

References 10
Document Identifiers