How Teachers of English in South African Schools Recognise Their Change Agency

Autor/in	Pillay, Ansurie
Titel	How Teachers of English in South African Schools Recognise Their Change Agency
Quelle	In: South African Journal of Education, 37 (2017) 3, Artikel 1296 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Pillay, Ansurie)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0256-0100
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; English Teachers; Self Concept; Change Agents; Qualitative Research; Personal Narratives; Classroom Environment; Teacher Student Relationship; Professional Identity; Intervention; Teacher Empowerment; Democracy; Definitions; Resistance to Change; Teacher Researchers; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; English language lessons; Teacher; Teachers; Englischunterricht; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Selbstkonzept; Qualitative Forschung; Erlebniserzählung; Klassenklima; Unterrichtsklima; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung; Demokratie; Begriffsbestimmung; Lehrerforschung; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	The South African Council for Educators' Code of Professional Ethics requires teachers to help learners develop values consistent with the fundamental rights contained in the Constitution of South Africa. To engage with such rights, teachers need to have the agency to develop such values, and this article explores how teachers of English in South African schools recognise (or fail to recognise) their change agency. Using a qualitative, interpretivist approach with narrative inquiry, twenty-two teacher-researchers were tasked with listening to the stories of teachers of English in order to answer the research question: do teachers consider themselves to be agents of change in their English classrooms? While the findings indicate that some teachers fail to enact agency, other teachers, despite claiming otherwise, do serve as agents of change in their classrooms. By respecting who learners are and enabling a democratic environment, teachers are able to engage with possibilities for change despite challenges. By having a clear vision of who they are as teachers, they are able to use interventions to improve the conditions for learning and make a difference to the lives of their learners. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Education Association of South Africa. University of Pretoria, Centre for the Study of Resilience, Level 3, Groenkloof Student Centre, Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, George Storrar Road and Lleyds Street, Pretoria 0001, South
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01