ABSTRACT
A key source of tension for teachers is the pull on one side to trust in one's own agency. This chapter looks at four aspects that combine to create a complex and critical challenge for teachers. First, there is the clear conflict facing the most conscientious teachers, and that is the struggle between answering to oneself while also living in a large, complex organization. A second source of tension between a teacher's sense of agency and the pressure to conform is the question of setting priorities in a teaching career. Third, for the most innovative teachers, there is a question of balancing one's own creativity and innovative sense with the work of colleagues in the same school or in close proximity. Fourth, there is the promising phenomenon of teacher leadership, a dynamic example of leading from the middle.
