Transformative agency: An investigation into how one teacher taught ‘invisible’ connected learners remotely online during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers across all levels of education to adapt to distance learning. The overall purpose of this study is to provide insight into how agency was enacted by a teacher in this situation. Since such knowledge is highly limited, we designed a study where we observed how a lower secondary teacher taught his students (n = 49) remotely online across six synchronous lessons in Norwegian language arts. Based on the observation and an interview, we identify a teacher finding the situation demanding, but who responds by enacting transformative agency dealing with silent and invisible students online. The teacher experiments with various digital and social resources in his efforts to engage and interact with the classes, despite the distance. We identify that the institutional support dealing with changing educational landscapes was limited. In situations where transformative agency is needed, it is crucial that institutions support and acknowledge the complex process of explicating and envisioning new alternatives to traditional school practices.