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1. In this well-researched academic essay, you are required to critically examine the interrelated
concepts of self, agency, and ethics within educational contexts. Your analysis should focus
specifically on how both learners and teachers exercise agency to preserve and practice their
religious, moral, cultural, or philosophical convictions. Illustrative examples of such convictions
include, but are not limited to, the notion of ‘self-care’ as theorised by Michel Foucault, and
‘ubuntu’ as articulated within African philosophical traditions.
Self, Agency, and Ethics in Education: Cultivating Critical Selves Within Constraining
Structures
The educational landscape is increasingly characterised by tensions between standardisation,
accountability, and the ethical commitments of both teachers and learners. Within this contested
terrain, the exercise of agency emerges as a crucial capacity for preserving and practicing religious,
moral, cultural, or philosophical convictions. This essay critically examines the interrelated concepts
of self, agency, and ethics within educational contexts, focusing on how both learners and teachers
exercise agency to remain faithful to their convictions. Drawing on the ecological model of agency
articulated by Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson (2015), alongside Foucauldian notions of self-care and
the African philosophical tradition of ubuntu, I argue that agency in education is necessarily an
emergent, temporally situated phenomenon that must be understood through the interplay of
individual capacities and structural conditions.
Theorising Agency: The Ecological Model and Its Implications
Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson (2015) offer a sophisticated framework for understanding agency
that moves beyond simplistic notions of individual autonomy or structural determinism. Their
ecological model conceptualises agency as an emergent phenomenon arising from the interplay of
three dimensions: the iterational, the projective, and the practical-evaluative. The iterational
dimension encompasses the ways in which agency is always informed by past experience—both
professional and personal histories that shape patterns of thought and action (Priestley et al., 2015, p.
10). The projective dimension captures the forward-looking orientation of agency, encompassing
short-term and long-term objectives, values, and aspirations (Priestley et al., 2015, p. 10). Critically,
the practical-evaluative dimension situates agency within concrete contexts, recognising that it is
both constrained and supported by cultural, structural, and material resources available to actors
(Priestley et al., 2015, p. 10).
This ecological framing has profound implications for understanding how teachers and learners
exercise agency in relation to their convictions. It insists that agency cannot be reduced to individual
choice or willpower, nor can it be dismissed as impossible under conditions of constraint. Rather,
agency emerges through the negotiation of past, present, and future within specific material and
relational contexts. As Priestley et al. (2015) elaborate, the iterational dimension involves the
selective reactivation by actors of past patterns of thought and action, routinely incorporated in
practical activity (p. 12). This selectivity is crucial—individuals draw upon aspects of their
experience that are relevant to their present circumstances and future aspirations, actively shaping
their engagement with educational spaces.
1. In this well-researched academic essay, you are required to critically examine the interrelated
concepts of self, agency, and ethics within educational contexts. Your analysis should focus
specifically on how both learners and teachers exercise agency to preserve and practice their
religious, moral, cultural, or philosophical convictions. Illustrative examples of such convictions
include, but are not limited to, the notion of ‘self-care’ as theorised by Michel Foucault, and
‘ubuntu’ as articulated within African philosophical traditions.
Self, Agency, and Ethics in Education: Cultivating Critical Selves Within Constraining
Structures
The educational landscape is increasingly characterised by tensions between standardisation,
accountability, and the ethical commitments of both teachers and learners. Within this contested
terrain, the exercise of agency emerges as a crucial capacity for preserving and practicing religious,
moral, cultural, or philosophical convictions. This essay critically examines the interrelated concepts
of self, agency, and ethics within educational contexts, focusing on how both learners and teachers
exercise agency to remain faithful to their convictions. Drawing on the ecological model of agency
articulated by Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson (2015), alongside Foucauldian notions of self-care and
the African philosophical tradition of ubuntu, I argue that agency in education is necessarily an
emergent, temporally situated phenomenon that must be understood through the interplay of
individual capacities and structural conditions.
Theorising Agency: The Ecological Model and Its Implications
Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson (2015) offer a sophisticated framework for understanding agency
that moves beyond simplistic notions of individual autonomy or structural determinism. Their
ecological model conceptualises agency as an emergent phenomenon arising from the interplay of
three dimensions: the iterational, the projective, and the practical-evaluative. The iterational
dimension encompasses the ways in which agency is always informed by past experience—both
professional and personal histories that shape patterns of thought and action (Priestley et al., 2015, p.
10). The projective dimension captures the forward-looking orientation of agency, encompassing
short-term and long-term objectives, values, and aspirations (Priestley et al., 2015, p. 10). Critically,
the practical-evaluative dimension situates agency within concrete contexts, recognising that it is
both constrained and supported by cultural, structural, and material resources available to actors
(Priestley et al., 2015, p. 10).
This ecological framing has profound implications for understanding how teachers and learners
exercise agency in relation to their convictions. It insists that agency cannot be reduced to individual
choice or willpower, nor can it be dismissed as impossible under conditions of constraint. Rather,
agency emerges through the negotiation of past, present, and future within specific material and
relational contexts. As Priestley et al. (2015) elaborate, the iterational dimension involves the
selective reactivation by actors of past patterns of thought and action, routinely incorporated in
practical activity (p. 12). This selectivity is crucial—individuals draw upon aspects of their
experience that are relevant to their present circumstances and future aspirations, actively shaping
their engagement with educational spaces.
