A Study on Teachers' Perceptions of Their Agentic Roles Using the Q Methodology

This study identified and analyzed types of teachers’ perceptions regarding their agentic roles. To achieve this, relevant literature was reviewed, and interviews were conducted with middle and high school teachers to develop 35 final Q-samples. A total of 48 middle and high school teachers were selected as the P-sample and asked to perform Q-sorting. Participants ranked statements based on their level of agreement and described the reasons for selecting the most and least agreed-upon statements based on their experiences. The collected data was analyzed using PQMethod 2.35 through factor analysis. The analysis revealed four distinct types of perceptions of teachers’ agentic roles: Type1:“learner growth-oriented”, Type2:“work-life balance-oriented”, Type3:“proactive competency development-oriented”, and Type4:“Instruction-Collaboration-Focused”. Based on these results, this study suggests strategies to foster and support teachers’ autonomous roles for each type. These findings provide insights for teacher education and may contribute to preparing teachers to meet the demands of a rapidly changing educational environments.