What does student agency mean?
Student agency is thus defined as the capacity to set a goal, reflect and act responsibly to effect change. It is about acting rather than being acted upon; shaping rather than being shaped; and making responsible decisions and choices rather than accepting those determined by others.
What are examples of student agency?
An expression commonly associated with student agency is “voice and choice,” which clearly conveys a situation where students are more active stakeholders in their own educational journey. My experience learning how to drive many years ago is one real life example of how student agency can be cultivated.
What is student agency and why is it important?
In student agency, the students have voice and choice in their learning, and it is primarily self-directed. Student agency is often referred to by educators as inquiry-based learning or project-based learning. Student agency in the classroom celebrates critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
What does it mean to build student agency?
The term student agency relates to the student having an active role in their learning through voice, and often a choice, in the process. Project and problem-based learning provide opportunities to increase student agency through activities that are interesting and relevant to the learner.
What is student and teacher agency?
In the educational context, agency refers to a respectful and more empowered positioning of students to be active agents in their own learning lives. Student agency encompasses both the power of possibility in learning contexts intersecting with the personal desire and will to act.
How do you create a student agency?
How to Build Student Agency in 2020
- Give Teachers Agency.
- Involve Students in the Decision Making Process.
- When Using Technology, Focus on Competencies and Skills Not Devices.
- Ask Open-Ended Questions.
- Make Your Students Fall in Love With Learning.
- Encourage Playing and Tinkering.
- Be a Coach or Facilitator of Learning.
What is the difference between student voice and student agency?
May 2022. As depicted in the visual above, student voice is about empowering students and providing them with the opportunity to give feedback – to each other and their teachers. Student agency is interconnected to student voice but is more focused on giving students responsibility and ownership of their learning.
How do I create a student agency?
How do we recognize and support student agency in learning and teaching?
And, reflecting upon my work with inquiry-based learning and project based learning, here are five ways to promote student agency.
- Create a culture of inquiry and creativity.
- Emphasize relevance over engagement.
- Share out learning targets.
- Facilitate ongoing feedback.
- Allow for Reflection and Publishing.
Why is student voice and agency important?
Student agency refers to the level of autonomy and power that a student experiences in the learning environment. Student voice and agency are intrinsically linked. Agency gives students the power to direct and take responsibility for their learning, creating independent and self-regulating learners.
What does it mean to build agency?
Having more agency means taking responsibility for your life. The next time you sense something happening around you—or within you—that doesn’t feel quite right, don’t ignore it and reflexively press on. Exercise the discipline to stop, pay attention, and work on finding a better path for yourself.
Why do we need agency?
Mastery, Autonomy, Purpose, Agency Without agency, one cannot act. We become paralyzed through fear, lack of jurisdiction, or the necessary ownership. Without agency, we cannot develop mastery, autonomy, or purpose.
What is agency in sociology?
Reductively, agency can be understood as the ability to “choose and act”. Agency is an expression of autonomy against social institutions, structures, and cultural forces. Agency can impact an individual’s ability to think and speak.
What is a sense of agency in the classroom?
In the classroom, students with a sense of agency regularly communicate their level of interest and express preferences, ask for a say in how problems are to be solved, and seek ways to add personal relevance to the lesson.
What is agency in education?
The concept of agency is derived from the fields of sociology and psychology, and has been used in different ways for different purposes in education. It is sometimes used interchangeably with concepts like proactivity, autonomy, the ability to exercise choice, and self-regulation.
Why is it important to understand agency in educational contexts?
It is important that agency is understood in educational contexts to incorporate both action and intention. The concept of agency is derived from the fields of sociology and psychology, and has been used in different ways for different purposes in education.