"I believe in the work I do on the outside": exploring teachers’ agency through participation in a professional master's degree

Resumen

LOSANO, Ana Leticia; OLIVEIRA, Hélia  y  FIORENTINI, Dario. "I believe in the work I do on the outside": exploring teachers’ agency through participation in a professional master's degree. Rev. Bras. Educ. [online]. 2025, vol.30, e300104.  Epub 22-Oct-2025. ISSN 1809-449X.  https://doi.org/10.1590/s1413-24782025300104.

This article presents a case study centered on a primary teacher who graduated from a professional master's degree (PMD). Adopting a sociocultural perspective, we employ the notion of professional agency to analyze how the teacher introduced and negotiated changes in her teaching practice drawing from her participation in the PMD. Considering that agency is exercised at present, informed by past experiences, and oriented toward the future, we carry out a narrative analysis of the data. The findings show that, by retrieving and reframing resources coming from the PMD, the teacher strategically negotiated opportunities for exercising her agency. Acting amid the practices legitimated in her school, she carefully cultivated gaps in which she conceived and directed her teaching practice considering her intentions and principles. This case study contributes to the field by identifying features of teacher-education initiatives that facilitate sustainable educational change.

Palabras clave : Professional Agency; Professional Master's Degree; Mathematics Teaching; Narrative Analysis.

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