Teacher Agency as a Driver of Improvement

Let's empower staff through ensuring agency in professional learning!

One of the most important aspects in the relentless pursuit of improvement in student learning and wellbeing is teacher agency. For me, this is not about giving teachers complete free rein. It is about creating the right conditions for professional autonomy to exist within a clear shared direction.

In our work, that direction is shaped by the annual improvement plan (AIP) or your system equivalent, school-level-based targets. This year, our AIP focus has been on improving rigour and challenge for all learners in mathematics, and that has given us a clear priority around which to build professional learning and classroom action.

It’s Not About You…But It Is 

Autonomy matters because teachers, like all professionals, are more motivated when they are trusted to make meaningful decisions about their practice. Research on self-determination theory shows that autonomy is a basic psychological need, and when it is supported, motivation, well-being, and engagement improve. We experience this ourselves as leaders when system leaders provide us with agentic conditions to work in also.

That has real implications for school leadership. If we want sustained improvement, we cannot simply tell teachers what to do and hope for the best. We need to create the structures, support, and trust that allow them to engage deeply meaningful work, that will make a big difference to improving teaching and learning, and that teachers also own the improvement process.

Leading the Conditions 

For me, the leader’s role is to set the direction and then create the conditions for teachers to move within that direction with agency. In our context, that means aligning teacher goals to the whole school goals while still allowing teachers to choose and adapt the focus that best fits their classroom and their students.

This is achieved by providing short, sharp curated professional learning that is practical and focused. That might be a five-minute video, a short reading, or a concise article, all to support our improvement work without overwhelming teachers and respecting their limited time.

I think that balance is important. Teachers do not need more noise, but rather they need clarity, relevance, and time to apply new learning in ways that matter for their students - to dive into what they truly value and what matters.

What It Looks Like in Practice 

One example from our work was a teacher wanting to focus on giving students different starting points in the lesson to differentiate instruction. I worked in partnership with the teacher, in supporting and guiding them to build in the flexibility for students to select a harder task or move back to an easier one through tiered tasks, and to access concrete materials whenever they needed support. The impact could be seen immediately with increased rigor, and the challenge is to sustain the practice to ensure it becomes habitual and embedded.

Another teacher focused on increasing metacognition through questioning. Another explored open learning tasks that differentiate and ensure all learners are challenged. These are different pathways, but they all serve the same improvement goal, to engage students in richer learning, greater challenge, and better accessibility to learning.

What I value in this is that teachers are not being told exactly how to teach the lesson or micromanaged. They are being supported to think deeply, choose a focus, and apply learning in a way that suits their context. Leaders are not expected to be experts in every area also. They offer what they can, continue learning where they need to, and work as partners with teachers.

The work is done ‘with teachers’, not ‘to them’. And the teachers can share and influence each other, so they too become experts and leaders in supporting each other to improve pedagogical practices.

The Flow-On to Students 

This is where teacher agency has a deeper impact. When teachers are trusted to exercise professional judgment, they are more likely to create classrooms where students also have agency.

I can see that flow-on effect clearly in the examples from our notes. Students were able to choose between tasks of different challenge levels, return to an easier task if needed, and use materials that supported them in the learning process. That is what it looks like when autonomy is not just discussed but designed into the learning experience.

For me, that is one of the most powerful parts of educational leadership. Teacher agency does not stop with teachers. It creates a cultural shift in shaping the kinds of learners we develop, and the extent to which students see themselves as active participants in their own learning.

Why This Matters for Leaders 

I think leaders need to be very intentional about how they plan collaboration and professional learning. Teachers are not all at the same point, and they are not all looking for the same thing. We need to treat them like professionals, give them choice, and provide the conditions that make choice meaningful.

In practice, that means curating resources that are useful and accessible, including high impact teaching strategies (HITS), school agreed practices, research articles, and tools that teachers can use straight away. I am happy to share these, and how I go about curating these foundational tools and resources with you (just dm me here on LinkedIn). It also means trusting teachers to learn, adapt, and produce something that reflects their thinking and their students’ needs.

When that happens, the improvement cycle becomes much more powerful. It is not just driven by leaders; it is owned by teachers, and that ownership makes the work stronger and more impactful.

Let's Start! 

I keep coming back to this simple truth. If we are intentionally planning better outcomes for students, we have to start by trusting the professionals closest to them. When teachers have agency, they are more invested, more thoughtful, and more likely to create the kind of impactful learning environments where students can experience agency too.

References 

Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: The state of a science. In C. G. D. M. Van Yperen et al. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory. Oxford University Press.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860.

Taylor, I. M., & Ntoumanis, N. (2018). Leader autonomy support in the workplace: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science.

Lindsay Burns is an Assistant Principal in Catholic education in Australia dedicated to helping grow leaders, strengthen teaching, and cultivate learning environments where students and teachers flourish. He is the founder of Impact Intentionally, a global community for education leaders to translate contemporary leadership thinking into intentional practice. This was originally published April 18, 2026, and is posted here with permission. You can contact Lindsay via email.

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