Teacher agency and professional practice

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Drawing on the capability approach to human development and Bourdieuan reflexive sociology, this paper explores the interplay of teacher agency and professional practice. The paper names five facets of teacher agency. It shows that teachers with a strong sense of agency actively seek learning opportunities—inquisitive agency; think effortfully about their beliefs and practices—deliberative agency; demand to be valued and respected for their professional work—recognitive agency; are committed to addressing educational disadvantages—responsive agency; and act ethically and make morally justifiable decisions—moral agency. Professional learning experiences that problematise practice and context of practice are proposed as an instrument for building teacher agency.