The manifestation of chinese preservice bilingual teachers’ relational agency in a change laboratory intervention

ABSTRACT

This qualitative case study is an examination of the relational agency manifested by three Chinese preservice bilingual teachers as they participated in a semester-long Change Laboratory (CL) intervention, during which they were placed in bilingual classrooms to work with their cooperating teachers. The bilingual teacher educators (i.e., the authors in this article) adapted and applied the CL methodology in the student teaching seminar course to support preservice bilingual teachers’ learning. Provoked by double stimulation, four different types of relational agency were manifested while the preservice teachers worked toward the goal of promoting equitable learning for bilingual children in the classroom with their cooperating teachers’ guidance. Implications for using CL methods in teacher education and new possibilities for bilingual education are also discussed.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the anonymous reviewers’ comments and Professor Beth Ferholt’s kind suggestions that have greatly improved this article. The authors thank Professors Yrjö Engeström, Anu Kajamaa, Annalisa Sannino, Jaakko Virkkunen, for their ongoing feedback starting from the March 2015 Change Laboratory Method Course held in the CRADLE research center at the University of Helsinki. We dedicate this manuscript to the memories of María E. Torres-Guzmán (1951-2018) for her contribution, kindness and inspiration. All errors remain the first author's.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.