Exploring the Factors Influencing the Development of Teacher Agency for Culturally Responsive Teaching

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is a pedagogy that promotes social justice by improving the educational experiences of students of color. This study aims to explore factors that influence teachers’ agency to implement CRT. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen teachers who had adopted CRT practices in the South-Central Appalachian region of the United States. Employing a qualitative design, a hybrid thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the interview data. This exploratory study is significant in several ways. First, the study advances theoretical discussions on what constitutes the construct of teacher agency for social justice based on its empirical evidence, which captured teachers’ lively voices. Second, it introduces the unique perspectives and experiences of South-Central Appalachian teachers into the discussion on the complex and less-known construct of teacher agency for social justice. Third, this study offers practical implications for school administrators, teacher educators, and policy-makers regarding what actions can promote teachers to develop and pursue social justice agendas using CRT in growingly diverse public education settings. The results discuss how the teachers perceived their sense of purpose, competence, autonomy, reflexivity, and commitment to professional development opportunities in enacting CRT in their educational practices.