Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Teacher agency in the performance of inquiry-oriented science curriculum reform

  • Forum
  • Published:
Cultural Studies of Science Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this commentary, I consider several theoretical and analytical aspects of Tang Wee Teo and Margery Osborne’s case study. I begin by identifying structuralist and cultural themes in Tang Wee and Margery’s theoretical model of human activity. Next, I offer an alternative interpretation for Tang Wee and Margery’s reported findings in terms of the notion of multiple teacher agencies. After that, I discuss the dramaturgical or theatrical nature of the symbolic interactionist model used by Tang Wee and Margery, focusing specifically on the issues of teacher role-taking and curriculum authorship. The paper then ends with a discussion about the significance of Tang Wee and Margery’s study wherein I emphasize the need for science education researchers to give more careful consideration to teacher agency and the analytical value of theatrical metaphors from the field of social dramatism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Ahearn, L. M. (2001). Language and agency. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 109–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahearn, L. M. (2003). Writing desire in Nepali love letters. Language & Communication, 23, 107–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brisset, D., & Edgley, C. (1990). Life as theater: A dramaturgical source book (2nd ed.). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, K. (1969). A grammar of motives. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, T. R. (1994). Two conceptions of human agency: Rational choice theory and the social theory of action. In P. Sztompka (Ed.), Agency and structure: Reorienting social theory (pp. 197–249). Langhorne, PA: Gordon & Breach.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carspecken, P. F. (1996). Critical ethnography in educational research: A theoretical and practical guide. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goddard, V. A. (2000). Gender, agency, and change: Anthropological perspectives. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: First Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1961). Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (Ed.). (1981). The lecture. In Forms of talk (pp. 162–196). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

  • Graham, L. R. (2003). Performing dreams: Discourses of immortality among the Xavante of central Brazil (2nd ed.). Tucson, AR: Fenestra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull, M. S. (2003). The file: Agency, authority, and autography in Islamabad bureaucracy. Language & Communication, 23, 287–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivanic, R. (1998). Writing and identity: The discoursal construction of identity in academic writing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp, I. (1986). Agency and social theory: A review of Anthony Giddens. American Ethnologist, 13, 131–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. K. (1957). Role set: Problems in sociological theory. British Journal of Sociology, 8, 106–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortner, S. B. (1989). High religion: A cultural and political history of Sherpa Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Prince University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortner, S. B. (2001). Specifying agency: The Comaroffs and their critics. International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 3, 76–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, R. H. (1962). Role taking: Process versus conformity. In A. M. Rose (Ed.), Human behavior and social processes (pp. 20–40). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wertsch, J. V., Tulviste, P., & Hagstrom, F. (1993). A sociocultural approach to agency. In E. A. Forman, N. Minick, & C. A. Stone (Eds.), Contexts for learning: Sociocultural dynamics in children’s development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Theory and Practice Department, State University of New York at Albany, 1400, Washington Ave., ED 113B, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Alandeom W. Oliveira

Authors
  1. Alandeom W. Oliveira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alandeom W. Oliveira.

Additional information

Lead editor: A. Sharma

This commentary addresses theoretical and analytical aspects of Tang Wee Teo and Margery Osborne’s case study entitled: Using symbolic interactionism to analyze a specialized STEM high school teacher’s experience in curriculum reform.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Oliveira, A.W. Teacher agency in the performance of inquiry-oriented science curriculum reform. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 7, 569–577 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9419-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9419-x

Keywords