Policy, Practice, and Possibility: A Collective Case Study Exploring Agency Among Veteran School-Based Agriculture Educators in Virginia

Abstract

Educational policy is rarely shaped by those who carry the role of implementation. Due to existing and impending educational policy structures, CTE teachers, specifically in agriculture education, must navigate these systems to maintain their school-based agriculture education (SBAE) programs. This study examined how veteran SBAE teachers in Virginia perceive and enact agency as they navigate local and state-level educational policy structures. Grounded in the Teacher Agency Model (TAM) (Priestley et al., 2015) and analyzed through the lens of Critical Policy Analysis (CPA) framework (Diem et al., 2014; Diem and Young, 2018), this study investigated existing educational policies targeting SBAE and career and technical education (CTE) programs to ensure equitable access is applied, and to determine how teachers use their institutional knowledge to showcase their agentic practice through advocacy. Using a collective case study design with an ethnographic approach, data was collected through policy document analysis, participant observations, and semi-structured interviews. Six themes emerged from the data analysis, which were organized into TAM's three dimensions: Iterational, Practical-Evaluative, and Projective. The themes that emerged included: 1) Valuing Institutional Knowledge and Experience, 2) Exclusion from Policy Decision-Making, 3) Leadership Knowledge Gaps and Resource Restrictions, 4) Balancing Workloads and Unrealistic Expectations, 5) Leveraging Visibility for Programmatic Change, and 6) Supportive Relationships Fostering Agentic Practice. Findings revealed that SBAE teachers were empowered advocates and agents of change for their programs, using their professional knowledge and strategic relationship-building to address systemic exclusionary practices that hinder the development and sustainability of their SBAE programs.