A Study On Middle School English Teacher’s Professional Agency From The Perspective Of Sociocultural Theory

With the development of education,middle school English teachers need to use their professional agency to adapt to new professional identities,and to incorporate new professional knowledge into practice.In order to provide both theoretical and practical basis for improving teachers’ professional development,it’s important to know the status of middle school English teachers’ professional agency and the factors which may affect their professional agency.However,there is still a lack of overall analysis on middle school English teachers’ professional agency.Thus,this study attempts to explore how middle school English teachers’ professional agency can be conceptualized in the teaching process from a sociocultural theory perspective.Based on the research background,three research questions are raised:1.What is the current situation of English teachers’ professional agency in middle schools?2.How do middle school English teachers exert their professional agency in the English teaching process?3.What factors may influence middle school English teachers’ professional agency?This study adopts both qualitative and quantitative research methods.By using the questionnaire,126 middle school English teachers in Yunnan province are selected to examine the factors affecting professional agency.It also conducts a semi-structured interview,three middle school English teachers participate.The results show that the overall level of middle school English teachers’ professional agency is above the medium level.Among the five dimensions of middle school English teachers’ professional agency,the mean score of teachers’ reflection(REF)is the highest.And teachers’ age,years of teaching experience,social identity,social evaluation,work overload and the conflict among school leaders,parents and studentscan affect middle school English teachers’ professional agency.Based on the results,several suggestions are put forward for middle school English teachers’ professional development.Middle school English teachers should strengthen their professional consciousness,set their own goals of professional development,and try to cultivate reflection habits.For middle schools and school leaders,they need to establish various ways of evaluation,provide more chances and support for middle school English teachers to improve themselves,and create a cooperative learning environment among teachers.Furthermore,education administrations need to set teaching tasks more reasonably.