An exploratory study of teacher agency for social justice

This paper presents a case study of teacher agency for social justice in a primary school in Scotland. Mixed methods and tools, including a questionnaire, interviews and observations, were used to explore the expressions of teachers' sense of agency in their beliefs and context-embedded practices. Teachers perceived agency for social justice as part of their role in helping students adapt to the institutional structures. Relationships with students, families, colleagues and other professionals, and participation in decision-making were seen as both functions of agency, and as features of structural environments that enable agency. Methodological challenges for future research are discussed.