Exploration of rural Taiwanese youth’s self-agency in environmental policy controversy deliberations

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to understand students’ perceptions of self-agency and how they demonstrate their agency by engaging in discussions of a highly controversial wetland policy facing their community. Five focal students participating in this 13-month long curriculum were selected for further explorations. We traced their learning trajectories to explore how students perceive their own roles in coping with this environmental controversy. Our data included student interviews at three different learning phases and recordings of in-class deliberative activities. The results revealed that students were more aware of their own agency as they navigated the contesting viewpoints among stakeholders. Three themes were generated to explain this change: adults’ business, family communication, and empowerment through civic action. This study showcases that engaging students in deliberations about environmental controversies has the potential to make them more aware of their own agency and become agentic citizens in addressing contentious environmental issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Student agency
• environmental citizenship
• deliberations
• controversial issues
• sustainability challenges

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Theresa Alviar-Martin for her insightful feedback on the earlier draft of this article

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yun-Wen Chan

Yun-Wen Chan is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas State University. Her research focuses on environmental citizenship, which is located at the intersection of sustainability education and civic education. She asks how to balance human and natural needs, how cultural orientations and economic pressures interact, and where education fits in mediating these challenges. Dr. Chan has closely worked with teachers and students in the United States, Taiwan and China about deliberations of sustainability challenges and controversial issues.

Marcus Wayne Johnson

Marcus Wayne Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas State University. Before pursuing graduate degrees, he enjoyed positions as a public- school teacher and congressional liaison. Dr. Johnson’s research interest includes teacher education, social studies education, and the sociocultural experiences of elementary students. His mission remains to blend academic research with the often-disregarded informal experiences, narratives, and knowledge of marginalized individuals and communities.