Participating in an international master’s programme: impact on agency for African in-service teachers

Abstract

This paper investigates teachers’ agency in relation to their professional development. In particular, we refer to research skills and attitude in-service teachers may acquire while attending an international master of research in education. A semi-structured interview was administrated to nine in-service teachers, coming from three different African countries. All of them are attending an international master course aimed to acquire skills in science educational research. The data collected was qualitatively analysed through a category system based on five types of agency. Teachers express the various types of agency in their attempt to extend their action in the context of belonging, with a strong social connotation towards colleagues, students, and the community.

Keywords:

• teacher agency
• in-service teacher
• research skills
• science educational