Practices of Student Assembly in a Taiwanese Primary School：Between Structure and Agency

Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Teaching and Education

Year: 2026

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Practices of Student Assembly in a Taiwanese Primary School：Between Structure and Agency

Prof. Dr. Hsin-Jen Chen

ABSTRACT:

Student assembly, a seemingly routine and taken-for-granted school activity, embodies specific structural characteristics that constrain teachers’ actions. Do teachers develop action strategies to cope with these constraints? How are students disciplined by teachers and school administrators within the context of the assembly? This paper first explores the meanings and functions of student assembly, and then adopts Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration as an analytical framework. Focusing on four structural dimensions—time, space, resources, and rules—it examines the structural constraints imposed on teachers and the possible adaptive strategies they may develop in response. The study collected research data through interviewing the teachers and students, and filed notes as additional supporting data in Taiwanese primary schools. Firstly, the research investigated the function of the student assembly and how it cultivated pupils’ national consciousness and discipline. Secondly, student assembly constrained teachers’ agency and thinking in terms of four structural dimensions—time, space, resources, and rules—whereas teachers developed strategic conduct to cope with structural constraints in routine practices. Thirdly, teachers and administrators employed reinforcing strategies to discipline pupils, which led the student assembly to formulate routinisation and social reproduction. Finally, the study suggested that teachers could transform the form of student assembly and break through the dilemma of structural constraints by integrating opinions from all teachers in the school.

Keywords: Structural Constraints, Individual Agency, Student Assembly, Routine Practices