The Role of Institutional Policy in English Language Teacher Autonomy, Agency, and Identity: A Poststructural Perspective
Saved in:
| Title: | The Role of Institutional Policy in English Language Teacher Autonomy, Agency, and Identity: A Poststructural Perspective |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Mostafa Nazari (ORCID |
| Source: | Language Teaching Research. 2026 30(2):885-907. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 23 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Descriptors: | Professional Autonomy, Language Teachers, English (Second Language), School Policy, Second Language Instruction, Foreign Countries, Professional Identity, Indo European Languages, Native Language, Teacher Attitudes, Power Structure |
| Geographic Terms: | Iran |
| DOI: | 10.1177/13621688221143476 |
| ISSN: | 1362-1688 1477-0954 |
| Abstract: | Scholarship on language teacher autonomy and agency has demonstrated that both constructs are central components of teacher identity and, hence, teacher performance. However, few studies have examined the role of these constructs in language teacher identity, particularly how power mediates their co-constitutive implications for identity construction. Grounded in a poststructural standpoint, this study reports on how institutional power was a key factor in shaping Iranian English language teachers' autonomy, agency, and identity construction. Drawing on data from narrative frames and semi-structured interviews, we show how institutional power discursively shaped the teachers' professional performance in three major areas: (1) power as a normative impetus; (2) policies as hierarchical forces; and (3) power as weakening the nexus between autonomy and agency. Our findings reveal that in the space between power and practice, the teachers viewed institutional power as discursively constraining their own personalized understandings and performances. However, the teachers considered the overarching discourse that power bore as positive in helping establish systemic organization. The article closes with implications for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers in establishing context-specific discourses that positively contribute to institutional and teacher growth. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1496720 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Scholarship on language teacher autonomy and agency has demonstrated that both constructs are central components of teacher identity and, hence, teacher performance. However, few studies have examined the role of these constructs in language teacher identity, particularly how power mediates their co-constitutive implications for identity construction. Grounded in a poststructural standpoint, this study reports on how institutional power was a key factor in shaping Iranian English language teachers' autonomy, agency, and identity construction. Drawing on data from narrative frames and semi-structured interviews, we show how institutional power discursively shaped the teachers' professional performance in three major areas: (1) power as a normative impetus; (2) policies as hierarchical forces; and (3) power as weakening the nexus between autonomy and agency. Our findings reveal that in the space between power and practice, the teachers viewed institutional power as discursively constraining their own personalized understandings and performances. However, the teachers considered the overarching discourse that power bore as positive in helping establish systemic organization. The article closes with implications for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers in establishing context-specific discourses that positively contribute to institutional and teacher growth. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1362-1688 1477-0954 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/13621688221143476 |
