Profesní aktérství začínajících učitelů v základních školách

Abstract

The theme of agency, more precisely the professional agency of novice teachers, emerged within our research into drop-out and its determinants in this professional group. The most important findings of this research included the key significance of the determinants at the school level, especially the influence of school culture and climate, cooperation with colleagues and leadership. Not only assistance and support (including high-quality mentoring) but also recognition by the head teacher and colleagues, and space for independent decision-making and acting, known as professional agency, proved to be crucial for novice teachers. In this text, we focus on the manifestations of professional agency of novice teachers and on the factors at the school level that influence it. After defining the concept of agency, we present the results of a qualitative analysis of interviews with novice teachers. We employed Goller’s conception of agency as human agency and agentic action that leads to certain outcomes as a basis of our analysis. We came to the conclusion that it is possible to identify a great deal of professional agency in novice teachers, the form of which is strongly influenced by the school environment, school leadership and colleagues.

Keywords

• novice teacher
• agency
• school
• leadership
• colleagues