We Love Talking; An Example of Teacher’s Agency

  We Love Talking; An Example of Teacher’s Agency

Academic discourse has a very important concept of teachers' agency. Defining this concept is difficult, but understanding it by example is much easier. However, we will have a look at both. 

Let’s see how Giroux identifies the idea of agency in teachers “Teachers with the agency are transformative intellectuals” Explaining the role of Transformative Intellectuals, He writes— “Transformative intellectual need to develop a discourse that unites the language of critique with the language of possibility, because, so that educated person recognise that they can make changes. In doing so they must be caught against economic, political and social injustices both within and outside the schools. At the same time, they must work to create the condition that gives students the opportunity to become citizens who have the knowledge and courage to struggle in order to make despair unconvincing and hope practical” (Giroux).

A small introduction was required to write about the idea—”We love Talking”

It is an amazing example of a Teacher’s agency. Together with her colleagues, Kamayani Joshi, a Delhi Government School teacher, has been organizing a conversation between our students and students from other countries. I had the opportunity to participate in the 9th episode of this interesting conversation. This time our students had the opportunity to interact with students from Vietnam, a South Asian country. A wide range of topics were discussed, including food, culture, movies, songs, clothing, and careers.

I always wondered how children in similar age groups grow in different parts of the world. How are their worldviews shaped? It was difficult to understand until a couple of years ago. I attended a talk at CIE, University of Delhi, in 2013 where a Bengali mother talked about home-schooling and how she ensured her kids interacted with children from other countries. The option was to travel as well as invite international guests. It looked quite fascinating, but it was an elite idea at that time.

The growth of video-conferencing technology has made it possible for common people to use it. The key, however, is the idea and the courage to put it into action, not the technology. That’s what defines a teacher’s agency. In order to develop such an idea and collaborate with international stakeholders, a lot of preparation, dedication, and hard work is required. But the result is phenomenal. It can be a life-changing experience for the students. For them, the meaning of the nation and belongingness will change. 

The famous historian, Yuval Harari states, Humans have an extraordinary capacity to cooperate. For basic challenges, they came together as a village, and as a state, they controlled some phenomena outside the village's control. In the coming decades, there is no choice but to organize at a global level. The challenges are global. There are a number of phenomena which cannot be understood or challenged within the boundaries of a country, such as the pandemic, environmental degradation, global finance, technological monopolies, global warming, cryptocurrency, and others. There is no choice but to collaborate at the global level. 

The article is incomplete without referring to the pathbreaking Mentor Teacher Program which is the breeding ground for—Teachers with the agency! In my view, it is the only program in the world that places total trust in its teachers. As a result, Mentor teacher undertakes path-breaking initiatives.