Congratulations to dr. Tetiana Ponomorenko afer successfully defended her doctoral dissertation Teachers’ Lived experience of Professional Agency” (Vytautas Magnus University, Education, (S 007), scientific supervisor – prof. dr. Vilma Žydžiūnaitė, scientific consultant prof. Natalija Mažeikienė) and after acquiring a doctoral degree in Education of  Social Sciences.

The dissertation is available at Vytautas Magnus University, Klaipėda University, Mykolas Romeris University, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The dissertation is available at: 11 Studentų St. , Academy. Kaunas district.

The brief dissertation is presented below.

The dissertation “Teachers’ Lived Experience of Professional Agency” aims to better understand how and in what context Lithuanian school teachers experience professional agency, what it means for teachers to experience professional agency in their interactions with school structures and community members (pupils, their parents, colleagues, administrators, etc.), and to provide a framework for this phenomenon. The study was carried out in two phases: a qualitative study and a phenomenological study. The data from the first stage revealed that Lithuanian teachers in their professional activity experience the influence of the school as a social structure at different levels (micro, meso and macro), which on the one hand restricts (rules, lesson structure, dress style, personal example, use of assigned textbooks, etc.), and on the other hand encourages them to be active in the professional field, or even to resist the established norms. The second stage of the research revealed that the structure of the phenomenon of teacher professional agency consists of personal, practical and relational dimensions. Teachers’ professional agency is understood as a conscious, purposeful act in line with the teacher’s personal and professional goals, values and aspirations, ‘hidden’ in practical consciousness and discursively manifested in the teacher’s critical reflection on his/her professional practice.

Dissertation Defense Council:

Chair – prof. dr. Remigijus Bubnys (Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, social sciences, educology S 007)
prof. dr. Erno Lehtinen (University of Turku, Finland, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
prof. dr. Antony Bryant (Leeds Beckett University, UK, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
doc. dr. Rasa Nedzinskaitė-Mačiūnienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
dr. Laura Purdy (Edge Hill University, UK, Social Sciences, Education S 007).