Teachers’ perceptions and responses to student agency. An experimental study

This study examined teachers' perceptions and self-reported responses to different forms of student agency, defined as the learners’ proactive and potentially transformative participatory acts. Specifically, we considered aligned and resistant agency performed by students with high vs. low levels of academic achievement. Participants were 369 Italian teachers, who read one of four scenarios in a 2 × 2 experimental design and completed a survey assessing their perceptions and behavioral and emotional responses to student agency. Results, showing more favorable perceptions and responses to aligned agency, were discussed with reference to the need of training teachers to legitimize various forms of student agency.