#917: Teachers as Agents of Change: A Conceptual Reinterpretation of Project-Based Learning in Kazakhstan

Project-based learning (PBL) has gained global attention as a student-centered approach that promotes collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Yet, implementing PBL often exposes tensions between its ideals and the structural realities of schooling. In post-Soviet contexts such as Kazakhstan, teachers are expected to adopt innovative pedagogies like PBL within centralized and exam-driven systems. This conceptual paper examines PBL through the lens of teacher agency, drawing on ecological and temporal perspectives (Biesta & Tedder, 2007; Priestley et al., 2015). It introduces adaptive agency to describe how teachers negotiate between global reform ideals and local pedagogical conditions. Building on findings from Intykbekov (2017), the paper reinterprets PBL implementation as a process of creative adjustment and professional judgment.