Protecting Agency in the Pursuit of Consistency
- Last Updated: 15th July, 2026
This blog is based on insights shared by Dr Chris Baker during his talk at The CPD Exchange, a national event bringing together educators, leaders, and researchers to explore new directions in professional learning and development.
In his session, Dr Baker tackled a key leadership dilemma: how can we pursue the necessary goal of consistency in teaching and learning without compromising professional agency? His reflections, rooted in research, practical leadership experience, and trust-wide innovation, encourage deeper thinking about how to sustain both alignment and autonomy in schools.
Why Consistency and Agency Both Matter
(From 03:22 in the talk)
Before diving into potential pitfalls and promising strategies, it is worth acknowledging that both consistency and agency are entirely understandable, even desirable, goals.
The Case for Consistency
Consistency serves several important functions:
- It ensures fairness so students receive a reliably high standard of education.
- It reduces cognitive load so staff and students know what to expect.
- It offers efficiency because shared practices save time and streamline effort.
- It supports accountability so leaders are better able to monitor impact.
Consistency provides clarity, predictability, and control which support both student outcomes and organisational functioning.
The Case for Agency
In contrast, agency – our ability to make choices and act with autonomy – drives innovation, adaptability, and engagement. Rooted in Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, agency is foundational to personal growth and professional development. Teachers with high agency are more likely to:
- Adapt practice to meet pupils’ individual needs.
- Take initiative and innovate.
- Experience a greater sense of wellbeing and job satisfaction.
- Remain in the profession long term.
As research from Donald Schön, John Dewey and Maslow suggests, agency is not a luxury; it is a necessity for reflective, adaptive teaching and sustainable careers in education.
Iatrogenic Effects: When Good Intentions Go Wrong
(From 08:25 in the talk)
Borrowed from the medical world, the term iatrogenic refers to unintended harm caused by interventions meant to help. In schools, such effects might include:
- High expectations ➝ Fear of failure and reluctance to take risks.
- Rigorous evaluation ➝ Teaching to the metric and performative behaviours.
- Rapid career progression ➝ Burnout and decreased confidence.
When it comes to consistency, we must be alert to three key iatrogenic effects:
1. Decreased Engagement
Too much standardisation can lead to passive compliance or even “quiet quitting” where staff disengage emotionally while remaining outwardly compliant. This erosion of professional motivation is hard to spot but deeply damaging.
2. Decreased Adaptation
Truly responsive, adaptive teaching is almost impossible without agency. Teachers ask themselves:
What could I do?
What am I allowed to do?
If the answers are unclear, or if they feel they lack permission, they stop adapting.
3. Decreased Expertise
Consistency taken too far can result in the loss of essential skills. Teachers risk becoming technicians, not professionals, especially when planning, behaviour management, or CPD is overly prescriptive. The result is shallow practice, limited thinking, and long-term capability decline.
The Consistency–Agency Sweet Spot
(From 21:34 in the talk)
The real challenge for school leaders is to find a sweet spot, a position where coherence and autonomy are held in productive tension.
Benefits of Low Consistency (High Agency)
- High levels of motivation and job satisfaction.
- Deep contextual understanding and practice-specific adaptation.
- Increased innovation and initiative.
Benefits of High Consistency (Low Agency)
- Common language and shared expectations.
- Reduced cognitive overload.
- Clarity around what “good” looks like.
Both ends of the spectrum offer value. The leadership task is to manage the dynamic, not to pick sides.
Promising Approaches to Protect Agency
(From 25:02 in the talk)
Drawing on work across 35 schools in the Capital Federation, here are three practical strategies leaders can explore.
1. Active Ingredients & Deliberate Differences
(From 25:02)
Borrowed from implementation science, active ingredients are non-negotiables that preserve effectiveness. Deliberate differences are areas where teachers can and should adapt based on context.
Example: Feedback
- Active Ingredients: Specific, timely, and actionable.
- Deliberate Differences: Verbal vs written, frequency, method of delivery.
By collaboratively defining these elements, schools can promote a consistent core while protecting teacher autonomy.
2. Tiered CPD: The PD Ladder
(From 30:52)
A one-size-fits-all approach to professional learning is rarely effective. Instead, consider a PD ladder, where staff engage at the level most appropriate to their expertise:
- Read (novices)
- Review (practitioners)
- Discuss (collaborators)
- Practise (experts)
This approach recognises variation in knowledge and supports self-directed, developmental progression. A culture of self-regulated professional learning, supported by structures like IRIS Connect’s video coaching and reflective tools, can play a critical role here.
3. Flexibility Within Structure: Management by Objective
(From 33:32)
Leaders can retain alignment without rigidity by embracing management by objective. This involves:
- Clear goals and values (for example, all students are questioned during a lesson).
- Defined success criteria (for example, use of checking-for-understanding strategies).
- Flexibility in implementation (for example, cold-calling vs hands-up vs no-opt-out).
As long as the objective is met and justified, teams are trusted to choose their method. This nurtures both accountability and agency.
A Word of Caution: Autonomy Requires Resourcing
(From 35:48 in the talk)
Agency is not just about freedom, it is about capacity. Without time, tools, and support, choice becomes burden, not empowerment. Leaders must ensure that when they promote autonomy, they also invest in the resources and scaffolding needed to make it work.
The Leadership Litmus Test
(From 36:13 in the talk)
You will know you have found your organisation’s consistency–agency sweet spot when:
- Staff have a clear mental model of excellence.
- They feel trusted to use their professional judgement.
- There is a shared language but freedom to adapt.
- Active ingredients are protected.
- Professional development is personalised, self-regulated, and supported by robust tools like IRIS Connect.
Final Thoughts: Leading with Flexibility and Trust
(From 38:06 in the talk)
This presentation is only the start of the conversation. Finding the balance between consistency and agency is not something we can solve in a single session; it requires proper deep thinking and ongoing dialogue in every school and trust.
What I am convinced of is that there is a consistency sweet spot. That is where we protect agency in the pursuit of consistency and give teachers both clarity and trust.
I would love this to be the beginning of further conversations with colleagues. I get huge value from chatting to people, hearing about what they are trying, and, yes, stealing their best ideas. So please do connect and share your thoughts.
If you are interested in some of the graphics and frameworks I have shared today, you will find them in my book Leadership Launchpads. It contains 100 practical starting points for professional development that will keep you reflecting and experimenting for a long time.
About the Author
Dr Chris Baker leads professional development for a large federation of schools in the South West of England, supporting over 1,800 staff. He is currently developing a responsive coaching framework to enhance staff growth and performance.
Starting out as a secondary PE teacher, Chris’s leadership journey has been shaped by purposeful mentorship and a drive for continuous improvement. He holds an ILM Level 7 in Executive Coaching and Mentoring and a Doctorate in Leadership Development, underpinned by a commitment to reflection and deliberate practice.
Chris sees leadership as a privilege—an opportunity to drive meaningful change, support others, and keep growing as a professional and a person.
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