The manifestation of chinese preservice bilingual teachers’ relational agency in a change laboratory intervention

This qualitative case study is an examination of the relational agency manifested by three Chinese preservice bilingual teachers as they participated in a semester-long Change Laboratory (CL) intervention, during which they were placed in bilingual classrooms to work with their cooperating teachers. The bilingual teacher educators (i.e., the authors in this article) adapted and applied the CL methodology in the student teaching seminar course to support preservice bilingual teachers’ learning. Provoked by double stimulation, four different types of relational agency were manifested while the preservice teachers worked toward the goal of promoting equitable learning for bilingual children in the classroom with their cooperating teachers’ guidance. Implications for using CL methods in teacher education and new possibilities for bilingual education are also discussed.