Speaker
Description
This study explores the complexity of teacher agency among English language teachers navigating the evolving landscape of the digital era. Drawing on Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), the research conceptualizes teacher agency not as a fixed attribute but as an emergent, context-sensitive phenomenon shaped by interacting personal, institutional, and technological factors over time. Utilizing narrative inquiry, data were collected from in-depth interviews and reflective journals of ten English language teachers across varied educational contexts. The findings reveal that teacher agency is fluid, non-linear, and deeply influenced by teachers' prior experiences, professional beliefs, institutional constraints, and their engagement with digital technologies. Participants demonstrated adaptive expertise and strategic decision-making as they negotiated tensions between pedagogical ideals and technological realities. Moreover, the study highlights how moments of agency often emerged during episodes of uncertainty and disruption, such as the abrupt shift to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key patterns include recursive cycles of reflection, experimentation, and adaptation, underscoring agency as a dynamic interplay of stability and change. This research contributes to the understanding of teacher development by offering a CDST-informed lens to examine how agency evolves in response to complex educational ecosystems. Implications include the need for teacher education programs and institutional policies to support ongoing, context-responsive professional learning that empowers teachers as active agents of change in digitally mediated environments.
Biography
Nhan Do is a lecturer at Can Tho university. He's starting his PhD in Applied Linguistics this September in the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
