This presentation seeks to contribute to methodological discussions about practitioner research by exemplifying how positioning theory (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999), cover, sacred and secret stories (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996) and pronoun grammar analysis (Mühlhäusler & Harré, 1990) can assist education researchers to understand the interplay between policy and teachers’ lived experience. Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with three science teachers and applying constructivist grounded theory coding procedures (Charmaz, 2014), the analytical tools are unpacked to demonstrate how they offer insight into the moment-to-moment changes in teachers’ personal agency to meet professional expectations. The study from which these data are drawn was conducted over two years with 10 teachers and 28 students in Melbourne, Australia. The question explored was: To what extent do secondary science teachers’ perceptions of their agency to teach digital literacy change as they are supported to teach an out-of-field science discipline?

Teaching out-of-field refers to instances where teachers, either by choice or assignment, are teaching subjects and/or year levels for which they do not have the pre-requisite experience and/or tuition in pedagogical practices (Hobbs & Törner, 2019). It is a widespread challenge across education systems affecting curriculum enactment and student outcomes (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2023; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2024; 2025; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2024; Van Overschelde & Piatt, 2020). Contextual information about the Australian context follows with the aim of inviting an international audience to reflect on how these methodological approaches may be applied to jurisdictions where teachers are required to meet similar professional expectations.

In Australia, general science teachers are tasked with teaching students aged between 12 and 16 to develop science understanding and inquiry skills across biology, chemistry, Earth and space science and physics. However, despite a lack of data (Hobbs et al., 2022) and compounded by policy attempts to alleviate teacher shortages, Permission to Teach (Victorian Institute of Teaching [VIT], 2025) is comparable to European strategies (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2023), the accepted reality is that science teachers are unlikely to have professional experience or education across all, and in some cases any, science disciplines. In addition, teachers are also expected to scaffold cross-curricular competencies like digital literacy1. The rapid development and potential applications of some of these technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, can mean that meeting these expectations in out-of-field disciplines feels like treading water. As such, teachers may aim to frequently use digital technologies rather than employ them for technology-enabled learning(Brantley-Dias & Ertmer, 2013; Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2013). This could mean the difference between using Google Earth to visit interesting places versus supporting students’ digital literacy by harnessing the program to collect and store data and information about volcanos to analyze and craft emergency management plans.

By exemplifying the analysis of teachers’ reflections, the presentation demonstrates how an agency continuum emerged and was applied to track changes in teachers’ perceptions of their rights and duties while being offered targeted professional learning to teach digital literacies in an out-of-field discipline. The presentation concludes with an autoethnographic (Ellis et al., 2011) narrative in which the agency continuum was applied to the researcher’s capacity to teach digital literacies while preparing a professional learning program for educators in India. By explaining the theoretical framework and methodological contributions, and proposing how findings may inform different education contexts, participants are challenged to reflect on their approaches to practitioner research.

1 Digital literacy and includes the knowledge and skills required for creating, managing, communicating and investigating data, information and ideas, and solving problems Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority. (n.d.). F-10 Curriculum Digital Literacy. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/curriculum-information/understand-this-general-capability/digital-literacy

Positioning theory (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999) offers theoretical resources to provide a nuanced grasp of the extent to which physical, social and knowledge structures enable teacher agency (Martin, 2020). Guided by two principles, positioning theorists challenge the static concept of role to understand the meaning ascribed to an individual’s actions: 1. What people say and do hinges on judgement; and 2. Identity is a product of interpersonal interactions (Harré, 2015) In this presentation, positioning theory is presented as an overarching methodological approach. The approach is explained through the use of the positioning triad including the terms discursive practices – what people say and do, positions – arising from discursive practices, these are the power imbalances connected to perceptions of agency, and storylines – emerging as individuals are positioned and re-positioned through their own and others’ discursive practices. Discursive practices were collected through audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews with teachers prior to, during, and after receiving targeted support for teaching digital literacy in an out-of-field discipline of science. Understanding their sense of agency using the positioning triad was accomplished first through line-by-line coding (Charmaz, 2014) of discursive practices. Then pronoun grammar analysis (Mühlhäusler & Harré, 1990), a fine-grained examination of teachers’ use of pronouns, phrases, qualifying words and paraverbals, was used to raise initial codes to focused codes. To understand how teachers positioned themselves and others, focused codes were then raised to categories through the use of cover, sacred and secret stories (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996). This served as a framework specific to understanding the stories of education. Cover stories are promoted by school administrators to the wider community, sacred stories are the theory-driven view of best pedagogical practice and secret stories are about classroom practice, indicating possible tension between the cover and/or sacred stories. Data analysis procedures are exemplified alongside teacher quotations to demonstrate how a continuum of teachers’ perceived agency to teach digital literacy is grounded in their reflections from: • Novice: Assumes a duty to utilize technologies for science content understanding, may be unaware of the digital literacies students are expected to develop; • Transitional: Identifies digital literacies students are expected to develop and assumes the duty to teach them, but feels conflicted translating this into practice • Advanced: Seeks out and learns how to use/adapt digital technology to classroom practice emphasizing inquiry

Grounded in teachers’ discursive practices, the agency continuum enabled an understanding of teachers’ personal agency to teach digital literacies along a continuum from novice to transitional to expert in an out-of-field science discipline. When offered support at their point of need, all teachers developed a stronger sense of agency to scaffold for digital literacies in an evolving technological environment. Tracking changes in teachers’ perceptions in this way has informed recommendations for professional learning within the school context and broader policy environment. These include advocating for differentiated approaches to professional learning and better support for out-of-field teachers (e.g., participation in accredited micro-credential certificates with financial and timetabling support from government initiatives and school leadership). Drawing on similar methodological approaches, agency continua could be crafted, validated and/or applied in other educational contexts. In Europe, for instance, where 23 education systems have policies aiming to address shortages in specialist teachers (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2023), an agency continuum could be applied to longitudinal studies evaluating the effects of in-service programs for qualification in an additional specialisation. Continua could also be applied to primary educators teaching numeracy in an integrated curriculum while navigating an environment where they are increasingly held accountable students’ achievement on standardized tests. Positioning theory was introduced as a methodological approach alongside tools to aid the fine-grained analysis of discursive practices. Using Clandinin and Connelly’s (1996) work to unpack emergent storylines in school settings is a unique contribution to this approach, resulting in a better understanding of the nuances of teachers’ personal agency to teach digital literacies. Employing similar methodological approaches and substituting cover, sacred and secret stories with more appropriate industry storylines, could enable researchers to developed continua for other professions and assist employers to determine specific supports required to rapidly upskill employees where workplace expectations are constantly in flux.

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