Teachers' Experiences with Agency and Wellbeing during a Critical Participatory Action Research Project

Prior research suggests that critical participatory action research (CPAR) - a research approach that centers democratic participation, agency, and collective capacity-building - may be one way to improve teachers' professional development and increase their feelings of agency and well-being. Engaging in CPAR has the potential to foster teachers' positive relationships, build their critical consciousness, and increase their feelings of civic empowerment. The current project explores teachers' experiences in a yearlong CPAR professional development course, investigating whether this professional development course may support teacher's self-reported sense of agency and their self-reported sense of well-being. Drawing on interview data, the findings suggest that teachers felt an increased sense of agency and well-being while engaged in the CPAR workshop. Although some teachers were able to transfer these feelings to their school contexts, the levels and forms of transferability seemed related to specific contextual factors. Thus, this study indicates that the benefits of CPAR may not always transfer across settings.