Instructional coaching and ecological teacher agency

Nika Maglaperidze, Teaching and Learning Lead, The Ecosystem of Bulgarian Progressive Schools, Bulgaria When I joined the Foundation for Bulgarian Progressive Schools, which consists of four privately run schools across Bulgaria, professional development was a priority, albeit there were only nascent ideas as to how our teachers would grow professionally; what’s more, the whole venture lacked a clearly formulated vision, direction or theoretical foundation. The all-important questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ that I would hear from exasperated teachers remained unanswered, which was a big problem. However, this was a challenge that we were all too willing to meet.  The vision: Teacher agency From teacher surveys that the foundation had conducted previously, it had become apparent that professional development was mainly imposed on teachers. The teachers did not appreciate the fact that the existing programme was not attuned to their particular needs, professional histories or