Understanding the Dynamics of Teacher Agency, Resilience, and Identity in the Neoliberal Age focuses on the complexity of teachers' agency, resilience, and identity across various contexts. Neoliberal educational policy technologies have been constantly (re)shaping educational professionalism, subjectivity, teaching, and evaluation. Within this climate, teacher agency, resilience, and identity are vital factors for maintaining teachers' well-functioning and well-being. Moreover, teacher agency, resilience, and identity do not exist independently but reinforce each other constitutively, which enable teachers to see beyond challenge and fluctuating confidence and withstand pressure. The educational contexts in this book encompass rural, immigrant, preservice education, special education, internationalized school contexts, etc. Theoretically, this book disentangles the conceptual understandings and methodological considerations of teacher agency, resilience, and identity. Practically, the contributors from various countries and regions explore how various contexts influence teacher agency, resilience, and identity in the neoliberal age.

Designed to promote active, hands-on learning, this unique book is composed of 11 chapter-length case studies that prepare students to address the types of challenging social issues they will encounter as practicing social workers. The cases-covering topics from immigration, gangs, and education to race, mental health, and end-of-life care-illustrate the interrelationship between the micro, mezzo, and macro levels and facilitate not just recall of facts, but also higher-level learning. Each case allows students to confront realistic scenarios as they evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information, resulting in more engaged and informed classroom discussions.