By Joy Kirr
What IS student agency?
How can teachers encourage its growth among students?
I think of student agency as student ACTION. This could be action that they devise on their own. Teachers can also help students develop agency by helping them enact action when they’re passionate about something. How this is done can be in many ways… I, just like a lot of educators, can do a lot more to encourage student agency (or action).
I like to think of what I need to do in steps, especially if the end result that I dream of looks impossible or overwhelming right now. What’s my own dream when I think of student agency? This: Students will have time in school to first study – and then share – what they feel is right and good. This would lead to creation of some sort of art (stories, music, video, displays, etc.) or science (sharing research, solving problems) that leads to CHANGE for the better. I want my students to read or hear something, be inspired by it, and then DO something about it. That’s what I, personally, want. What do my students want? Making time to guide them in these choices helps them to have agency.
From my middle school reading lens, it starts with choice with reading. We can do this easily when we incorporate independent choice reading in our classes. If we’re supposed to have book clubs with a specific lens for our curriculum, let students have choice in the book OR choice in their reading group. My personal preference is the book itself, as I feel they’ll have more buy-in reading a book of their choice. I believe my students think they should be choosing their own group. This decision is ultimately up to the teacher. If the teacher is comfortable with letting the students choose which one works for them, the students have more agency. This leads to action. In their groups, they’ll have ownership – either over the book choice or their group choice. I believe this will help them to work better with their group either way, as they’ve been trusted to make a big decision leading up to this work.
Choice in writing is crucial in ANY subject. What are our students concerned about? What is on their mind? This relevance brings them agency. Do they want to continue writing about a problem they’re having or a story they’ve started? Either one of these can bring their passion to the surface and can open the doors to true student agency. What do they believe is important to share with readers? What do they feel strongly enough about that they’re willing to take the next steps to revise, edit, and ultimately publish their ideas? What is so relevant to them that they decide to reword their writing until it says precisely how they feel about something? Pair these writers with artists and scientists and community members. These pieces of writing can then transfer into more research about a problem they want to help solve, a speech before a school board, an article in the local paper, or even a trip someplace where their words can make a difference in the lives of a broader audience.
I would love if my students were PROUD of what they’ve done in school. If they can fly with an idea and we can help them get the results they want, I believe that is “student agency.”
I suggest we use the Internet to check out the myriad explanations of “student agency.” Once we look more into this term, our brains rewire a bit, and hopefully we will consider many more ways how we can provide this chance for our students.
One comment
So much to love here, Joy. You talk about how agency can “lead to change for the better” and students being “inspired” and then, the holy grail…””DO something about it.” As I consider the work I’ve done in my classroom over the past 3 1/2 years, I’m falling short on the broader world view. There really is so much children can do to make the world a better place but somehow, I seem to take the “short view” instead of looking at reading and writing as a way to make the world a better place. I often wonder if it has to do with my own limited experiences with attempting to changing the world. Now, more than ever, all of us can affect the world in such positive, BIG ways. Your words have been a seed for me.
Where I’m perhaps doing a bit better is around the idea of CHOICE. I create many, many opportunities for the kids to choose…their independent reading books, books for book clubs, writing topics and extraordinary pathways like the Slice of Life Blogging Challenge and the Edublog Challenge. As I lament in my post, though, so much of that choice time seems to be stolen by the need to teach state standards, despite my best efforts to weave them into authentic reading and writing experiences. And then there’s the biggest thief of all..the constant stream of disruptions that fragment our day until there is often nothing left to embrace.Good thing I am a tenacious creature; I just keep looking for new ways to extend, expand, enrich the few precious moments I have with my students.
Thanks for letting me orbit your space, Joy!