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Journal directory listing - Volume 70 (2025) - Journal of Research in Education Sciences【70(1)】March
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Investigating the Construction of Empowerment Action Models in Remote Educational Systems Through the Lenses of Tool Affordance and Relational Agency
Author:
Pei-ying Chen (Department of Education, National Taiwan Normal University), Chin-Wen Hung (Center for Educational Research and Innovation, National Taiwan Normal University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 70, No. 1
Date：March 2025
Pages：1-39
DOI：​https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202503_70(1).0001

Abstract：

Motivation and Purpose
　　Literature relating to rural education has been accumulated, with most problems falling into the “known” category. However, finding innovative practices to solve these problems still requires seeking alternative pathways to identify possibilities for structural and cultural transformation.
The study employed a culturally responsive inquiry strategy to establish local “observing, knowing, acting, and reflecting” action knowledge and accumulate second-order social capital for systemic change (Leithwood, 1994; Thornton et al., 2012). Taking T County as the main field, this study began by problematizing rural education and adopted a system empowerment perspective that responded to local needs. The researchers collaborated with frontline educators to co-develop a revitalization model suitable for rural education through talent cultivation programs, diverse professional resource matching, and an inquiry cycle of “design, implementation, feedback, revision, and deepening.” The research questions guiding this study were as follows:
　　1. How can rural areas introduce key resources, establish relational agency, cultivate local talent, and develop system empowerment strategies to solve local educational problems?
　　2. How can local educational problems be addressed through the local practices of relational agency, by developing and utilizing tool sets that respond to local issues, and achieving system empowerment effects?
Literature Review
　　This study employed the concepts of affordance and relational agency as the main analytical frameworks. Affordance refers to the ways in which tools induce users’ behaviors, cognitive actions, and reflections. However, users’ behaviors can also exceed the original intentions of tool designers; that is, the flexible use of tools depends on users’ cognition of tool properties, the use of the tool’s own prompts, and the judgment of problems or environments to modify the use or function of the tool to achieve goals (Hammond, 2010).
　　Relational agency refers to the process by which groups of actors promote mutual understanding and transform individual cognition and interpretation through dialogue and negotiation, fostering connections in pursuit of common goals and tasks, enhancing collective action, and ultimately solving problems and achieving objectives. The concept of relational agency is closely related to the development of professional capital in teacher PLCs. Through the accumulation of human capital and social capital embedded in relational agency, and the process of collective inquiry and reflection among teachers, an effective “decisional capital” of teaching experts is formed, along with the accumulation of “a shared repertoire of practice.”
　　This study thereby utilized relational agency to describe how local problems could be transformed into practical goals through the co-learning and co-action of actors, while tool affordances served as the mediating effect and evidence of relational agents’ goal-oriented practices, demonstrating the trajectory of system empowerment and organizational change.
Method
　　This participatory case study was conducted in T County from November 2019 to May 2021. In addition to the researchers’ existing partnership with T County, the case was selected because it is a typical rural county, with more than 70% of its primary and secondary schools classified as remote area schools. The study primarily collected data through participatory observation and semi-structured interviews and used NVivo software as a qualitative data analysis tool. A total of 66 field observation records and 17 interview data were collected, with 5 in-depth interviews and 11 observation records used in this paper.
Results
Problematization of the Rural Education Context and Formation of Strategic Actions
　　Long-standing views among T County educators regarding the local educational environment included insufficient teacher quality and quantity, unstable administrative leadership, and weak student family support. However, these existing disadvantages might be transformed by means of implementing the new National Curriculum Guidelines in 2019. In 2019, inspired individuals collaborated with the research team to establish a “core teacher team,” with the primary goal of effectively empowering local educational talent. The team, guided and accompanied by coach Chin, aimed to build a mutually supportive team that transformed thinking and engaged in collective inquiry learning while co-developing techniques and tools for interdisciplinary curriculum design.
　　The team members progressed from initial individual learning to developing organizational practice action plans. The in-school empowerment workshops were designed to assist the participant schools in developing school-based curricula. Recruiting and assigning cooperative partners and tool creation were important to boost the capacity building, which ensured that the in-school empowerment workshops aligned with action goals.
Tool-Induced Team Learning and Action
　　The second part uses three tools introduced by Chin - interdisciplinary curriculum design tools, wave analysis, and an action planning toolset– to illustrate how tool affordance triggered inquiry and its effects within the team.
　　The interdisciplinary curriculum design tool module aimed to guide collective discussions and design competence-oriented curricula that integrated students’ authentic life experiences. “Wave analysis” was a visual tool that used the pictorial images of waves to elicit deep dialogue within the team using intuitive perceptions, information interpretation of events, and reflection. The tool module for mobilizing group learning and action consisted of six toolsets. These goal-oriented and in-depth inquiry tools elicited team members’ recognition of the overall plan and its details, leading to multi-faceted views and assessments of the current situation.
　　Finally, in the process of providing school empowerment workshops, the team developed tools such as interview questionnaires, curriculum planning forms, coach self-assessment forms, and school momentum assessment forms to respond to the needs raised by schools.
Discussion and Suggestions
Constructing and Cultivating a Collaborative Culture of Relational Agency Was Essential for Solving Structural Problems in Rural Areas
　　In this study, a team composed of diverse professionals with high momentum could sustain and transform members’ professional learning. The input of appropriate external professional resources could develop reciprocal and trusting social capital. Obtaining concrete support from the governing authority was crucial for stabilizing the development of talent cultivation programs.
 
The Affordance Tools Co-created by the Team Could Achieve the Effects of Technical Enhancement, Relational Connection, and Resource Integration
　　Through dialogue and practice, participants realized that improving teaching did not stem from changes in operational techniques, but rather from making curriculum development filled with “warmth” (caring for participants and the environment) and “plasticity” (feasible flexibility). The process allowed the team to feel “using the tool” rather than “being used (limited) by the tool,” and even transforming the tool. This was the practical and creative value of tools and the key cognition for the team’s continuous professional learning.
Continuous Inquiry Cycles Were an Effective Way to Construct Rural Education System Empowerment Due to the Complex and Rapidly Changing Nature of Rural Education Systems
　　Learning from feedback in practice and ongoing discussion was particularly important. Specifically, this study included four key steps: “design, implementation, feedback and revision, and deepening.” In the design stage, the three external tools mentioned above were used to establish team consensus, lay the foundation for professional knowledge, and design program processes. In the implementation stage, in-school empowerment workshops were held. After entering the school, discussions and mutual feedback were conducted, and the results of the team’s joint discussions were used as a reference for revision, allowing each group to revise the process design of each school’s in-school service. Finally, the deepening stage was an extension of the inquiry cycle, continuously improving the efficiency and responsiveness of the model through re-entry into schools and further developing new tools or processes based on needs.
Conclusion
　　In conclusion, the complex problems embedded in rural schools in terms of structure and system still require policy support. The effective practices of the T County case study provided a dynamic understanding of the contextual and systemic nature of solving rural education issues. The research found that system empowerment began with talent cultivation, followed by establishing a relational agency of mutual trust and shared action, as well as goal consensus. It was crucial in learning to use a common language to develop culturally responsive team learning and curriculum development tools, and continuously shape ongoing professional growth through in-depth dialogue. This might result in reshaping collective cognition and efficacy, and forming a positive cycle of system empowerment and its replicable innovation methods and paths.

Keywords：affordance, remote area education, relational agency

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APA Format
Chen, P.-Y., & Hung, C.-W. (2025). Investigating the Construction of Empowerment Action Models in Remote Educational Systems Through the Lenses of Tool Affordance and Relational Agency. Journal of Research in Education Sciences, 70(1), 1-28. 
https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202503_70(1).0001