Chinese TESOL Teacher Educators’ Perceptions of Factors Influencing Teacher Agency

This study explores the perceptions of 34 Chinese TESOL teacher educators regarding factors influencing teacher agency, adopting an ecological perspective that frames agency as dynamic and context-bound—shaped by interactions across iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective dimensions. Key findings reveal that teacher educators prioritize the projective dimension, emphasizing teachers’ long- and short-term goals as the most influential factor in shaping agency. Within the practical-evaluative dimension, they highlight teacher emotions, knowledge of students, and cultural factors as critical, followed by material conditions and structural factors. The iterational dimension—encompassing teachers’ past life and professional histories—was perceived as the least influential. Implications of the study include integrating these priorities into pre- and in-service training to foster agentive practices among language teachers.

Duke Scholars

Author Zhenjie Weng DKU Faculty