Purpose

In the context of the 12-Year Basic Education curriculum reform, this study aimed to investigate how teachers conceptualize shareddecision-making, collective learning, and change intention (affection and behavior intention for change). Additionally, it was examined how teachers’ conceptions of shared decision-making and collective learning influenced their change intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from teachers serving at the public junior and senior high schools in Taiwan using a survey questionnaire. A total of 1,195 valid responses were used for data analysis. Analyses of variances were used to examine the differences in teachers’ conceptions of shared decision-making and collective learning, affection for change, and behavioral intention for change. We also investigated how teachers might be classified with varying degrees of agency. Furthermore, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted to analyze the paths of “conceptions of ‘shared-decision making and collective learning’-affection for change-behavior intention for change” among teachers in three clusters as moderators.

Findings/results

The findings revealed that teachers had positive receptivity for shared decision-making, collective learning, and change intention. Three clusters of teachers were found with different degrees of agency. More than half of the teachers belonged to the cluster of being “all mouth and no trousers.” Teachers in this cluster demonstrated high cognition of shared decision-making and collective learning but low affection and behavioral intention for change. The other two clusters were “having grand ideas but little action” and “having the courage to fulfill.” With lower cognition, teachers in the “having the courage to fulfill” cluster acquired the most decisive intention for action. However, teachers in the “having grand ideas but little action” cluster had relatively high cognition and affection but low motives to practice. Concerning the impact of teachers’ cognition on the intention for change, we found that the dimension of “collective learning” had a more significant influence than that of “shared decision-making.” When conducting the moderated mediation analysis, the dimensions of “collective learning” and “shared decision-making” were found with direct effects on affection for change. Both impacts on the change intention were partially mediated by affection for change. Besides, “shared decision-making” had no significant impact on the change intention in the “all mouth and no trousers” cluster; however, the impact appeared in the two other teacher clusters.

Originality/value

The curriculum reform of the 12-Year Basic Education is Taiwan’s most crucial education policy in recent years, but there are limited studies on the new curriculum reform. Given the significant role of shared decision-making and collective learning in implementing the new curriculum, we linked them with teachers’ intention for curriculum reform. Besides, an ecological perspective of the agency was employed. Agency is the drive for a change resulting from the interplay of the individual and the complex external environment. Through cluster analysis, three clusters of teachers with different degrees of agency were found. We labeled them as “all mouth and no trousers,” “having grand ideas but little action,” and “having the courage to fulfill.” With the teacher clusters as moderators, a moderated mediation analysis was conducted to examine the path of “conception of ’shared-decision making and collective learning’- affection for change-behavior intention for change.” The statistical methods provide sophisticated analysis for the relationship among the variables and derive practical implications. This study contributes to a more precise direction regarding empowering school practitioners with different degree of agency to embrace curriculum change.