Hearing the Whole Story: Examining Preservice Teacher Agency in an Empathy Conversation

Creating just educational systems requires disrupting how power operates in literacy teacher education programs and attention to preservice teacher (PST) agency. This study is grounded in literature concerned with PST agency, particularly in coaching interactions. Data consist of one empathy conversation, a dialogic coaching tool used to disrupt coaching hierarchies and center participant stories. We draw on positioning theory to ask: (1) How does a PST demonstrate agency in an empathy conversation? (2) How do empathy conversations disrupt traditional coaching norms? Utilizing conversation analysis and an analytic framework of agency, we show agency in a PST's telling of her own schooling history and current experiences. She co-constructs critiques of social structures with the field supervisor (FS), conveys key moments of choice in her story, and names systemic inequities. The structure and invitation of the empathy conversion allowed space for these agentic moves and extends beyond the limitations of lesson-focused coaching to foster dialogue about the dyad's lived experiences and educational systems. Implications include the potential to further explore how PST agency can emerge in coaching conversations.