An examination of the the development of the epistemic agency in Irish primary school teachers

This study investigates the developmental trajectory of epistemic agency among Irish primary teachers, examining how their capacity to construct, evaluate, and apply professional knowledge evolves across career stages. Employing Galton's bridges framework as an interpretive lens, the research explores how teachers navigate multiple practice domains throughout their professional lives, providing a multidimensional understanding of epistemic development. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design integrated survey data from 500 teachers with interviews from 15 participants purposively selected across career stages. Quantitative measures assessed collaboration, professional learning, self-regulation, and epistemic beliefs, while qualitative data explored lived experiences of epistemic development through semi-structured interviews. Analysis revealed three distinct phases of epistemic agency development. Early career teachers demonstrated dependent epistemic agency, characterised by external knowledge validation and scaffolded learning across practice domains. Mid-career teachers exhibited reciprocal epistemic agency, with peak self-regulation scores and sophisticated knowledge co-construction capabilities. Experienced teachers displayed selective epistemic agency, strategically engaging with professional knowledge while focusing on wisdom transmission. The application of Galton's framework revealed that epistemic agency develops asynchronously across domains, with teachers potentially demonstrating sophisticated agency in pedagogical decision-making while remaining dependent in curriculum interpretation. Key influencers included individual factors (gender, prior industry experience, international exposure), interpersonal dynamics (mentorship, collaboration), and systemic constraints (time, resources). The findings challenge linear models of teacher development, demonstrating that epistemic agency evolves through complex, domain-specific transformations. These insights are particularly relevant as Ireland's Primary Curriculum Framework positions teachers as agentic professionals, yet the research reveals significant variation in teachers' epistemic readiness for such roles, highlighting the need for differentiated support at each career phase. n of the development.