6 Ways To Build Teacher Agency Through Professional Learning

When John Arthur, a sixth grade teacher from Salt Lake City, began teaching more than a decade ago, he decided to energize his students with a kickball game. His principal was not happy when she saw students playing outdoors that afternoon. As a principal of a Title I turnaround school, she sought to improve student assessment scores but initially didn’t see the connection between kickball and reading and math proficiency.

Arthur was nervous when his principal first approached him. He didn’t feel like he had that much agency with his job as a rookie teacher and worried he might have made the wrong decision. But thankfully, his principal was willing to talk to him and listen to what his students needed. During Arthur’s second year of teaching, he was invited to share his ideas and serve on the school’s leadership team.

“She showed trust in me and empowered me,” Arthur shared recently during a webinar. “She made the choice to believe in me, empower me, and have me participate in the school’s growth.”

In other words, he said, she respected “teacher agency,” ultimately trusting him to make instructional decisions on behalf of his students based on his observations.

Since then, Arthur, a National Board-Certified teacher, has been named a 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year and a 2021 National Teacher of the Year finalist and has taken on several leadership roles. He is co-director of The Utah Teacher Fellows, a nonprofit dedicated to developing the next generation of Utah teacher leaders. Arthur also serves on the board of directors for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, WestEd, REL West, and IncludEd United. 

What Is Teacher Agency?

According to the International Encyclopedia of Teacher Education,  teacher agency refers to a teacher’s ability to act and make choices in their professional role, which in turn influences their practice and student learning. Teacher agency involves taking initiative, making decisions, and feeling a sense of ownership. According to the Brookings Institute, school administrators vary on the degree to which they encourage teacher agency. On one end of the spectrum, administrators believe teachers must closely follow prescribed curricula and administer assessments as directed. On the opposite side, administrators feel comfortable having teachers instruct students however they see fit.

Teachers need a certain degree of autonomy because they make daily instructional decisions with minimal administrator oversight. Deep content knowledge and strong pedagogical skills are key components of good teaching, but teachers also need the confidence and support to make decisions that can help students succeed. Some well-intentioned administrators may give inexperienced teachers too much autonomy, putting them at risk for not having the resources or tools to support their students. Alternatively, administrators who favor highly structured environments limit experienced teachers who could make a more significant impact with more agency. 

Arthur stressed that one of the best ways to build teacher agency at every career stage is through continuous professional learning. He highlighted that professional learning not only reinforces teacher knowledge and skills but also gives educators a voice and the confidence to shape their own practice.

Professional Learning and Professional Development: What’s the Difference?

“Professional development” and “professional learning” are terms that are often used interchangeably to describe teacher training, but they are not the same thing. Generally, professional development refers to mandated workshops, seminars, or lectures that follow a “sit-and-get” approach. Professional learning is interactive, sustained, and customized to a teacher’s specific needs. It encourages teachers to take responsibility for their learning and to practice what they learn within their own teaching contexts (Scherff, 2018). 

According to research, high-quality professional learning: 

• Ties to specific content and standards

• Incorporates active learning

• Is job-embedded

• Encourages collaboration

• Provides models

• Includes coaching

• Is sustained and continuous

• Aligns with school goals, standards and assessments, and other professional learning activities 

Arthur explains the difference between professional development and professional learning with a simple analogy. Professional development is when you’re assigned to go to the library, pick up a book, and read it in a room with fellow teachers and then talk about it. In contrast, professional learning is going into a bookstore, perusing the shelf, and picking out the book you need to solve a problem, he said. While they may seem similar, professional learning requires more engagement from teachers.

“Professional development takes away agency, whereas professional learning is driven by teacher agency and meets needs teachers identify for themselves,” he said.

How Professional Learning Can Help Improve Teacher Agency

As teachers build new skills, they become more empowered to adapt their instruction and advocate for their students. Professional learning programs that carve out time for teachers to reflect on their practice encourage them to re-evaluate and improve their approaches. When teachers get the opportunity to participate in professional learning communities, they can collectively influence curricular decisions, further reinforcing their role as change agents. 

To avoid getting overwhelmed, Arthur suggests teachers interested in engaging in professional learning pick a specific area of practice to work on at a time. 

“The biggest thing I have found when it comes to growing professionally is that momentum is key,” he said. “Consistency is the thing that determines if you can make it to where you want to go.”

How Can Teachers Advocate for Their Own Professional Learning?

Teachers have several options when it comes to growing their careers. Arthur spent three years earning a National Board Certification from the National Board for Teaching Professionals. He loved teaching in the classroom, but wanted to improve student outcomes and serve as a teacher leader. According to the NBTP, a national survey found 96% of respondents reported that National Board Certification was among the top-three most impactful professional learning experiences for advancing their practice.

While Arthur encourages teachers to seek professional learning out on their own, he says that when teachers band together, they can multiply their impact on student learning. 

“No one survives in isolation or thrives alone,” he said. “You need people you can go to, and say, ‘My kids do not get the connection between percents and ratios. How did you get your kids to do that?’”

For example, when Arthur encountered students in his combined fifth and sixth grade class who struggled to read, he proactively sought professional learning with fellow teachers to develop skills that would help upper-elementary students grasp grade-level content. 

“I went to my principal with my team and said that I needed help. She got us a program, and our literacy coach coached us through it and gave us videos to watch, and helped us by co-teaching and modeling,” Arthur said. “Professional learning does not always mean agency in terms of flying through an empty sky. Sometimes, we were reading a script. But that’s also empowering, because the thing that defines success for all of us is how our students are doing.” 

Use Evidence To Support Best Practices

Teachers can collect evidence to show their professional learning and instructional decisions have a direct impact on student learning. For example, you can highlight success with data that shows student scores went up as a result of your practice. Arthur encourages teachers to share best practices and data with peers.

“Make sure you’re keeping track of outcomes that came from your professional learning,” he said. “Keep a digital folder and a portfolio where you can point to a graph or year-over-year growth.” 

Administrators can be fearful of giving teachers more agency in the same way teachers are afraid of giving their students too much freedom in the classroom. However, Arthur encourages administrators to identify “all-star” teachers and see how well they do with greater autonomy. 

“If you honor them and honor their expertise by giving them the freedom to be amazing, more often than not they will be,” he said.

Here are some ways you can advocate for professional learning programs that support teacher agency:

1. Seek a place at the decision-making table. Teachers should account for 50% representation on school and district teams responsible for every stage of professional learning decision-making, from planning and data analysis to design, implementation, and evaluation.

2. Get involved in data analysis and use student data to help identify teaching and learning challenges.

3. Advocate for regular time with colleagues in the form of professional learning communities (PLCs), where you can share ideas and best practices with colleagues.

4. Ask for choice in your professional learning, both regarding the content and colleagues you’d prefer to work with.

5. Ensure any professional learning you engage in supports continuous professional growth, without a focus on evaluation.

6. Provide feedback to administrators before a professional learning program is mandated for all teachers or scaled up for large-scale implementation. 

Invest in Professional Learning Solutions That Empower Teachers

Lexia’s professional learning solutions are built on the science of reading, informed by five decades of “gold-standard” research that explains how humans learn how to read. These professional learning tools give the knowledge and tools to better assess students’ needs, differentiate instruction, and accelerate learning for all students. With Lexia®, teachers learn the “why” and “how” behind effective reading instruction to inform “what” to teach. 

Literacy experts Dr. Moats and Dr. Carol Tolman developed Lexia® LETRS® Professional Learning to train educators about how to teach beginning readers. The first part of LETRS teaches educators how to assess students’ knowledge of the English language (phonemic awareness), how sounds represent letters that can create words (phonics), and how and why to teach word parts (morphology). In the second part of the course, teachers learn how to develop students’ spoken language abilities, increase vocabulary, and build comprehension skills. They also learn how to diagnose reading problems and differentiate instruction.

In many states, LETRS professional learning can be linked to improved student outcomes—particularly in states that reported moderate to high levels of implementation, such as Mississippi. For two years, about 30% of the state’s 7,600 teachers completed all eight LETRS modules, and their quality of instruction, student engagement, and teaching competencies all increased. 

In 2023, Lexia Aspire® Professional Learning began helping upper-elementary through high school teachers bridge the gap from learning to read to reading to learn. Aspire helps content-area teachers quickly build the depth of skills they need to support students who can read but still struggle with foundational reading skills. Self-paced professional learning courses help teachers gain the knowledge and skills they need to apply science-based strategies to students who need varying levels of literacy support.

Believe in Your Potential To Influence Change

Making the transition from professional development to professional learning is the tool that will expand teacher agency and influence, and ultimately, improve teaching as a profession, Arthur said. He urges teachers to talk to their leadership about getting the time, space, and community to solve problems they see in the classroom every day. 

“Believe in yourself as a professional. Act accordingly and you will get results,” he said. “You will need professional learning along the way to get where you want to be, and ultimately, you will earn greater trust not only for yourself, but for all of us.”

Want to learn more? Watch John Arthur’s webinar to discover strategies you can use to advocate for professional learning and greater agency in your teaching career. 

1. Archibald, S., Coggshall, J. G., Croft, A., & Goe, L. (2011). High-quality professional development for all teachers: Effectively allocating resources. Washington, DC: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED520732.pdf

2. Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M. E., & Gardner, M. (2017). Effective teacher professional development. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.

https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report

3. Labone, E., & Long, J. (2014).Features of effective professional learning: a case study of the implementation of a system-based professional learning model. Professional Development in Education, 42(1), 54–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.948689