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Teacher Mediated Agency in Educational Reform in China

  • Book
  • © 2015

Overview

Authors:
  1. Hongzhi Yang

    1. The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

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  • Offers insights on teacher agency as a factor in reforming the English as a Foreign Language curriculum in China
  • Provides a theoretical framework for analyzing teacher agency from a developmental perspective
  • Argues that curriculum reform in China needs to shift from top-down policies to bottom-up implementation

Part of the book series: English Language Education (ELED, volume 3)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 1-12

  3. A Sociocultural Perspective on Teacher Agency

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 13-41

  4. Advanced Activity Systems

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 43-84

  5. The Case Study of Sunny: The Prisoner

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 85-117

  6. The Case Study of Jenny: The Unresponsive Apprentice

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 119-152

  7. The Case Study of Lynne: The Reflective Practitioner

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 153-185

  8. Discussion and Conclusion

    • Hongzhi Yang
    Pages 187-204

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 205-213
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Keywords

About this book

This book examines teacher agency in implementing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum reform in the Chinese university context. It theorizes the concept of teacher agency from a sociocultural theory perspective and draws on a study conducted in a conservative and less developed area in China. The book uses Engeström's activity theory and Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to understand the nature and extent of teacher agency in adapting one’s teaching with respect to beliefs, knowledge and instructional practices. The study concludes that curriculum reform in China needs to shift from reliance on 'top-down' policies to 'bottom-up' implementation that mobilizes local understandings and practices. One of the implications of this study is that transformative teacher education programs aimed at developing teacher pedagogical agency require that teachers have ongoing opportunities to design, develop and evaluate curriculum-based mediational means.

Authors and Affiliations

  • The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Hongzhi Yang

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Teacher Mediated Agency in Educational Reform in China

  • Authors: Hongzhi Yang

  • Series Title: English Language Education

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15925-6

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-15924-9Published: 08 April 2015

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-34964-0Published: 05 October 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-15925-6Published: 26 March 2015

  • Series ISSN: 2213-6967

  • Series E-ISSN: 2213-6975

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 213

  • Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Language Education, Curriculum Studies, Sociology of Education

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