Teacher professionalism and agency: insights from a literature review

Abstract

In recent decades, neoliberal logics have affected the teaching profession and, consequently, had a direct impact on teachers’ professionalism. The aim of this paper was to conduct a literature review to determine the most significant arguments and debates about teacher professionalism in the last 10 years and its relation to a transformative teacher attitude. Therefore, relevant review studies from 2011 to 2021 were analysed in order to respond to the following questions: “how can current scholarly publishing within teacher professionalism inform a transformative vision of education? What are the main themes identified and how do they relate in order to inform teachers’ professionalism?”. The themes of ‘professionalism’ and ‘agency’ are central to the current scientific debate, interconnected with the issues of professional development, leadership, and research. This paper hereby provides insight into alternative paths towards the (re)professionalisation of teachers, which response can be a ‘transformative professionalism’ framed by the interconnection of professionalism and agency. The process of continuous professional development in the context of autonomy appears as the elected form for this process of re-professionalisation and agency. School leadership and teachers’ research emerge as opportunities for professional development with these characteristics.