Purpose: This paper aims to introduce the concept of adaptive agency and illustrate its emergence in the field of English teaching in a number of countries using England over the past 30 years as a case study. It examines how the exceptional flexibility of English as school subject has brought many external impositions whilst its teachers have…

Purpose: This essay examines the history of China's teacher education policies, summarizes the Chinese experience of teacher education reform, and frames the major challenges facing teacher education reform in China today. Design/Approach/Methods: This relies upon a detailed analysis of the teacher education policies implemented by China since…

Purpose: A number of empirical studies and evaluations in Norway and Sweden shows variabilities in the degree to which the municipalities succeed in their endeavors to support school principals' instructional leadership practices. In response to this situation, the Norwegian and Swedish directorates of education have developed a joint…

Why do society and the courts so readily recognize university and college teachers' academic freedom but just as readily deny primary and secondary school teachers the same right? To investigate this question, this article considers teachers' work in light of the standard justifications for granting academic freedom in higher education: that…

Effective implementation of educational reforms requires collaboration between stakeholders. The current paper describes and analyzes the findings of a qualitative research, which examined the perceptions of the three hierarchic levels of stakeholders, assigned by the Israeli Ministry of Education in 2010 to introduce and implement a new policy…

This research synthesis analyzes a selection of classroom-based empirical studies on language teacher agency within ESL/EFL/bilingual contexts. Comprehensive analyses of the selected research center on several respects: theoretical frameworks, contexts, methodologies, major findings, methodological and ethical issues as well as implications. In…

In 2004, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued the "College English Curriculum Requirements" in an effort to revitalise English language teaching in China. This official document underpins "College English", a compulsory course for non-English majors in the first 2 years of university study. In a break with the past, the…

In an age of nationalisation of international educational (leadership) policy, or vice versa, the politics and conflicts behind such policies often take centre stage to the detriment of (research-based) professional expertise. In response, this article develops a nuanced critical realism to propose a practice-based development and implementation…

Research suggests that the limits of teacher autonomy are defined by educational policies. Educational policies, however, are driven by political culture. This study examines the relationship between teacher autonomy and political culture and how this relationship varies with teacher and school characteristics. Using the "2011-2012 Schools…

While research on teachers' Critical Incidents (CIs) has grown exponentially, little research has been done on teachers' assessment-related CIs, much less examining the contributions of such CIs to their identity sense-making. This study aimed to fill some of this gap by exploring assessment-related CIs of 13 Iranian L2 teachers and the associated…

Embracing an ethos of sharing music and practices across cultural boundaries, the multicultural vision of music (teacher) education has paid scarce attention to the paradox of freedom that arises between such freedoms and the complex politics that frame and constrain teachers' choices and values. In this article, we explore these demands of…

Notwithstanding the growing importance of university-business cooperation (UBC), our understanding of education-driven UBC remains nebulous, so does our knowledge of facilitators of academic engagement in such cooperation. This research explores psychological facilitators underlying academic engagement with business in education-driven activities…

Over the past 10 years, the authors of this paper have implemented a series of project-based and inquiry-based learning initiatives in the calculus sequence at our institution. These initiatives took place in a department with an existing strong culture supporting teaching innovation and improvement. In this paper, we describe three initiatives in…

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may influence the projected career plans of music teachers in rural areas. Survey participants (N = 115) in Wyoming completed a questionnaire designed to elicit responses about multiple factors and projected career plans in one year and in five years. The vast majority of participants planned…

As described in the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice, school nurses bridge the realities of health and education policy within the school community every day. This role is inclusive of helping teach sexual health education (SHE) to students. We were interested in characterizing how school nurses navigate requirements of health…