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May 1, 2024
Vol. 81
No. 8
Reader's Guide

The Agency Educators Deserve

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    School CultureEngagement
    Six diverse and happy educators seated against a near-black studio background.
    Credit: fizkes / Shutterstock
      In his book The Power of Habit, journalist Charles Duhigg explains that “giving employees a sense of agency—a feeling that they are in control, that they have genuine decision-making authority—can radically increase how much energy and focus they bring to their jobs.” 
      No place is this truer than in schools. Research finds that teachers who feel like they have greater classroom autonomy report higher levels of job satisfaction. And in turn, the more satisfied teachers are with their jobs, the more likely they are to stay in them. 
      Yet numerous factors—from book bans to standardized testing to top-down compliance mandates—have an outsized influence on what happens within classroom walls. The subsequent “weakening of teacher agency,” says researcher and author Andrea Terrero Gabbadon, “has wide-ranging effects in education,” including high rates of turnover, particularly among teachers of color. “Many teachers attribute turnover to feeling burned out, unsupported, and disempowered as autonomous decision makers.” 
      This issue of EL aims to help schools put power back into teachers’ hands. The articles walk school and ­district leaders through ways to cultivate teacher agency—and guide teachers in how to exercise and strengthen their own agency, even (and ­especially) within restrictive settings.

      People show up differently when they feel like they’re being heard.

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      As educator Kass Minor explains, “Teacher agency is fostered in spaces that position teachers as intellectual beings, change agents, and community leaders." To create such spaces, the authors in this issue suggest, leaders can do several things. For example, leaders can design professional learning that builds teachers’ capacity to exercise “­principled resistance." They can give all teachers in a building, including paraprofessionals, the platform to share their expertise. And they can avoid micro­managing teachers by limiting compliance-related tasks that suck up teachers’ time and don’t contribute to their sense of ­professional empowerment. 
      By the same token, as several articles illustrate, it’s possible for teachers to preserve or “recapture” their own autonomy. When working within a required curriculum or prescriptive program, says education consultant and author Mike Anderson, teachers might not be able to change what they teach, but they can often change how they teach it. 
      “Sometimes it’s better to beg ­forgiveness than to ask ­permission,” writes Anderson, to make “some quiet changes for the benefit of your students without asking about it first.” For instance, teachers might make small adjustments like reordering lessons to improve cohesion, skipping repetitive lessons, and repeating lessons for students who need more time to grasp a concept. 
      Both the examples of autonomy-boosting companies Duhigg shares in The Power of Habit and the articles in this issue reinforce that people show up differently when they feel like they’re being heard. With teacher agency increasingly under attack or being neglected, we have reached a tipping point. It’s time for all of us to listen.

      Reflect & Discuss

      "Creating Autonomy Within Fidelity" by Mike Anderson

      ➛ Do you agree that teachers should have leeway to make adjustments to prescribed curriculum? Why or why not?

      ➛ In what ways have you modified curriculum to better reflect your approach and the needs of your students?

      ➛ What kinds of support from leaders do teachers need to make the kinds of curriculum adjustments that Anderson recommends?

      "Making Space for Principled Resistance" by Rob Martinelle and Kaylene Stevens

      ➛ How does your school encourage teachers to be activists for themselves or their students?

      ➛ The authors provide a few ways that leaders can set the stage for empowering PD. What is one other way you can think of that leaders can support teachers to become smart activists?

      "A Blueprint for Teacher Retention" by Trey Duke and Cathy Pressnell

      ➛ Do teachers in your school or district feel they have agency? How do you know?

      ➛ Does your school or district have an effective system for teacher voice and representation?

      ➛ What first steps might you take to set up a Teacher Advisory Council in your district?

      "Taking Risks with Rough Draft Teaching" by Sam Rhodes and Matthew Melville

      ➛ How would your teaching change if it were “a new experiment each and every day”?

      ➛ What elements of rough draft teaching do you already practice? What new element can you add?

      ➛ Does your classroom or school offer judgment-free zones that celebrate learning and growth?

      End Notes

      1 Olsen, A., & Mason, E. (2023, March). Perceptions of autonomy: Differential job satisfaction for general and special educators using a nationally representative dataset. Teaching and Teacher Education, 123.

      Sarah McKibben is the editor in chief of Educational Leadership magazine.

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