Teacher agency in professional development workshops: A South African perspective

This article addresses challenges associated with developing and manifesting teacher agency in Professional Development workshops in the context of educational reform in South Africa. Drawing from a broader study investigating teachers' perspectives on curriculum reform, this article highlights the challenges posed by top-down Professional Development models that marginalise teacher voice and professional autonomy. The study used Bandura’s socio-cognitive theory, incorporating the triadic causation model of agency. The study explores how systemic, contextual, and personal factors converge to influence teacher agency during professional development. This qualitative study, using a mix of classroom observations, document analysis, and interviews, purposively sampled nine teachers from five public schools in a district in Gauteng. The qualitative data analysis found that systemic influences of institutionally imposed development offered partial understandings of the reform because they excluded teachers’ voices and empowerment in knowledge production. Consequently, it was found that traditional top-down approaches to professional learning constrain teacher agency, encouraging compliance rather than transformative growth. The article, therefore, recommends that teacher learning in professional development be reconceptualised as a collaborative process that empowers teachers as active agents in shaping educational change. The study's findings contribute to teacher knowledge, teacher training, and professional development in the context of educational reforms.