This week’s Uncluttered post attempts to deconstruct a blog by Jackie Gerstein, and how it applies to the professional agency power.
But most educators would probably agree that out of all of the professions, they feel that their voices have the least amount of power; are the ones least heard of any profession when voicing desires, needs, innovative ideas.
Purpose
The purpose of this blog was to define teacher agency and how teachers may increase their agency by changing to a growth versus a fixed mindset.
Key Takeaways
- Teachers with a fixed mindset as opposed to a growth mindset develop learned helplessness.
- Teachers can make choices for small changes that will lead to a growth mindset.
- Teachers can employ strategies to understand who they are as educators and how they can exhibit that persona.
Concerns
While I would generally agree that some changes are in the teacher’s control, I’m not entirely certain I agree with the opening quote of the blog, which indicates that “In reality, teachers have a great deal of autonomy in the work they chose to do in their classrooms (Harrison, 2013).” That may be true in some schools, but it is definitely not true in all of them. It is also quite likely that in five years, the situation has changed even for those schools for which it may have been true.
Gerstein, J. (2013, November 6). Teacher Agency: Educators Moving from a Fixed to a Growth Mindset. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/teacher-agency-educators-moving-from-a-fixed-to-a-growth-mindset/.