To adapt or to transform? Exploring district-based English language teacher educators’ agency in integrating GenAI into professional practice

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools hold significant potential for transforming education. While prior studies have examined teachers’ perceptions and uses of GenAI, little is known about how district-level teacher educators (DTEs), whose work involves mentoring frontline teachers, facilitating curriculum reform, and organising district-level teacher professional development (PD) activities, integrate these tools into their professional routines. Guided by Priestley et al.’s (2015) ecological model of agency, this qualitative multiple-case study examined how two English language DTEs enacted agency in adopting GenAI over one academic semester and identified ecological factors that influenced their agency enactment. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, field observations, and documentary data, the analysis shows that both DTEs enhanced their agency in supporting teachers’ adoption of GenAI and their professional development, a process shaped by dynamic factors across the iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective dimensions. Notably, their agency manifested in two distinct modes, one oriented towards top-down pedagogical guidance and the other towards facilitating teachers’ self-directed PD. These divergent pathways were closely tied to their long-term professional goals. The study offers practical implications for policymakers, educational leaders, and researchers seeking to support DTEs’ agentic roles in the GenAI era.