Educators’ perspectives on supporting student agency

ABSTRACT

The literature on student agency is missing the voice and perspectives of teachers. Although theoretical and empirical research aims to explore student agency by observing and documenting the structures and supports involved in fostering agency, the field knows little of what student agency means to teachers who currently teach and who have experienced the highs and lows of recent educational reform efforts. This article includes three practicing educators, teaching in various contexts (region and grade level), to discuss student agency from their perspectives. These educators examine their classroom practice and develop a definition of agency rooted in reflections of classroom experiences, vignettes, and student and teacher dialogue. Teachers reflect on the obstacles they experience in their efforts to construct agentic spaces in their classrooms and the ways in which they harness their vision to continue to modify their instruction to fit a variety of learners and experiences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional Resources

1. Mraz, K., & Hertz, C. (2015). A mindset for learning: Teaching the traits of joyful, independent growth. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

This book is a practical guide for teachers in how to cultivate students’ habits of mind for academic success, a love for learning, and agency. Based on the work of Carol Dweck, Daniel Pink and Art Costa, authors Kristi and Educator 2 share ways in which to help students develop a growth mindset inside and outside the classroom. They focus on five research-based attitudes: optimism, persistence, flexibility, resilience and empathy.

2. Rufo, D. (2012). Building forts and drawing on walls: Fostering student-initiated creativity inside and outside the elementary classroom. Art Education, 65, 40–47.

In this article, Rufo offers a window into his action research as teacher seeking to foster student agency and creativity inside and outside of the art classroom. He explains how students become co-creators of the curriculum and active participants, exercising self-governance in their own learning.

3. Brown, R. (2009). Teaching for social justice: Exploring the development of student agency through participation in the literacy practices of a mathematics classroom. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 12, 171–185.

This article, written by teacher action researcher, Raymond Brown, examines how teachers can create a community of practice where students learn both the academic content and how to exercise agency through equity and access in the classroom. Brown draws connections between students’ agency development in his mathematics' classroom and teaching for social justice.