Toward a diagnostic toolkit for intervention in teachers' agency during curriculum reform: Groundwork for a Change Laboratory in Vietnam

Abstract

This study presents a diagnostic toolkit in support of teachers' agency during curriculum reform, potentially supported with a Change Laboratory intervention. The instrument was developed with a Vietnamese school undergoing an educational reform. Using cultural-historical activity theory core concepts, we examined the school's approach to its students, its orientation to overcome systemic contradictions, its engagement with expansive learning processes and transformative agency, and its future prospects. The findings suggest that a full-scale Change Laboratory is not necessary in this context, but a theme-focused intervention for specific concerns of teacher groups could benefit the practitioners.