From perceived discrepancies to intentional efforts: Understanding English department teachers’ agency in classroom instruction in a changing curricular landscape

• Published in: Teaching and teacher education 2020-06, Vol.92, p.103074, Article 103074
• Main Authors: Ruan, Xiaolei, Zheng, Xinmin, Toom, Auli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Classroom instruction; English department teachers in China; Self-discrepancies; Teacher agency
• ISSN: 0742-051X; 1879-2480
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tate.2020.103074

This study explores how English department teachers in a university in China exercise their agency in a climate of reforms when self-discrepancies emerge in their classroom instruction. A thematic analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and journal entries results in a scenario of dynamic interplay between self-discrepancies and teacher agency in the classroom setting. It is revealed that teachers tend to perceive different degrees of gaps among their ideal selves, their ought selves, and their actual selves, all of which are affected by their prior experiences, professional knowledge, and institutional support. Teachers tend to exercise their agency in various meaning-making efforts, such as analyzing, planning, acting, and reflecting, to enhance their teaching effectiveness in the classroom. By situating English department teachers in a changing curricular landscape, this study, which is interpretive in nature, conceptualizes the interaction between teachers’ perceived self-discrepancy and agency in classroom instruction and hence potentially expands our understanding of the theories and practices of teacher agency in the current educational zeitgeist. •We explored the agency of English department teachers in the classroom settings.•We utilized self-discrepancy theory to interpret the dissonance of the beliefs and the practices of classroom teaching.•We adopted both qualitative interviews and classroom observation to address teacher agency.•We interpreted how teachers could develop their career in a changing curricular landscape in China.