What does teacher agency imply in centralized educational policy systems? Organizational structure and cultural challenges

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ agency has become a key concept owing to the tremendous changes in the field of education. This study investigates ‘teacher agency’ in a centralized educational policy system. The study employed a qualitative approach; accordingly, interviews were conducted with 11 teachers and seven headteachers to explore teacher agency’s cultural and structural challenges in Kuwait. The findings illustrate that teacher agency was limited and passive in performance. The country’s centralized educational system hindered teachers’ ability to practice agency by constraints such as limited autonomy, resources, and support. Despite this, teachers practiced agency through navigating policy, resisting, and providing constructive suggestions. Last, the study discusses implications for policymakers and school leaders.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research received no funding.

Notes on contributors

Munirah Khalid Faisal Al-Hilm AlAjmi

Munirah Khalid Faisal Al-Hilm AlAjmi, PhD is an associate professor at Kuwait University, teaching at Educational Administration department. She is an educator that also performed administrative duties on departmental academic committees. She got her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. She has published several articles and books in education Al-Ajmi emphasizes the use of data in schools , evaluating school principals , school reform and educational policy making. Awarded several educator awards including the Donald J.Willower Dissarion award for outstanding doctoral thesis.

Amal Abdulwahab Alsaleh

Amal Abdulwahab Alsaleh, PhD a professor in the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education at Kuwait University. She earned her PhD from Pennsylvania State University. She has published many articles in the area of her interest in educational leadership, school improvement and reform studies, professional development, and educational policy. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected].