Debunk Myths of Student Agency

Introduction

Although student agency is a topic that is frequently discussed in education, it is also one that is sometimes misinterpreted. Teachers frequently assert that they are providing students with agency by letting them choose what they want to do. Giving students choices is only one aspect of actual student agency, though. Agency involves encouraging students’ responsibility and giving them the tools to take charge of their learning and make informed choices that will affect their learning. A fundamental change in the power dynamics in the classroom is necessary for student agency. In this blog post, I intend to explore what student agency is and isn’t, and how teachers could create environments that foster student agency.

“When learners have agency, the role of the teacher and student changes; the relationship between a teacher and a student is viewed as a partnership.”

The Learner (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2018)

Myth 1: Agency is not lack of control and structure

Giving students complete freedom to decide however they like to do in the classroom is not what agency is all about. While it’s critical to provide students with the tools they need to take ownership of their learning, it’s equally crucial for teachers to maintain supervision and guidance over the learning environment and monitor students as they progress. Students should be encouraged to make their own choices regarding their learning, but this does not mean they should make whatever choices they like. There is a great difference between what students want and what they need. Teachers still need to communicate expectations, establish routines, offer direction, and assess student learning. The goal of student agency is to provide students with the strategies they need to develop approaches to learning skills and become self-regulated learners. Student agency requires structure and teacher support.

For instance, teachers can provide students with choices for how to show their understanding of a topic, like an essay, a poster, or a video. Teachers might also let students choose the topics they want to research. The MYP Personal Project is an example of this, where students develop agency with the guidance of supervisors. Students select a topic of their interest and are guided by a supportive adult to help them achieve their goals. As a way of encouraging students to take responsible actions and develop agency, teachers give them feedback frequently, rather than only at the end of the learning process.

For students to effectively self-direct their learning, clear expectations, learning strategies, resources, and feedback are necessary to help students effectively manage their learning. Instead of leaving students behind, the agency aims to empower them. The statement made by John Spencer in his blog article that “agency and compliance still have a role since students can feel overwhelmed when things are too loose” is something I fully agree with. (Spencer, 2020). It’s essential to find a balance between structure and independence in the classroom. Too little structure can hinder innovation and development, while too much flexibility can lead to confusion and chaos. Agency aims to empower students rather than abandon them. Student choice must be balanced with teacher guidance.

Myth 2: Agency is not about less work for teachers

Many teachers falsely think student agency results in less work. The opposite, however, is true. In order to support student agency, teachers need to be more intentional in their instruction and give students meaningful opportunities to make decisions and guide their learning. Along with providing students with choices, teachers must also provide guidelines, constraints, and support. To ensure that students own their learning and that learning objectives are met, more planning and preparation are required. As part of this process, teachers must also be adaptable and prepared to address students’ interests. It may be necessary for teachers to modify their teaching strategies or redesign their learning activities to help students understand, make sense of, and clarify their confusion. Furthermore, teachers need to allocate time to provide students with personalized feedback at various stages of the learning process to help them progress. Instead of being less work, it requires more intentional and purposeful planning, ongoing feedback, open communication, and a student-centered teaching approach.

Myth 3: Agency is not about students working independently all the time

The idea that students should work independently is another common misunderstanding regarding student agency. But this is simply not true. Student agency means that they take responsibility for their own learning. It does not imply that students must work alone at all times. Students with agency can choose their optimal way of learning and participate in relevant learning activities. Students might demonstrate agency through independent tasks, group activities, discussions, collaborative projects, and reflection. When students are involved in a collaborative project, they can choose which tasks to complete, what role they will play, and how they will work with their peers. When students work independently, they are not left to figure everything out on their own. Teachers still play a critical role in facilitating student learning and provide guidance and support as needed. Depending on the task and the context, student agency can take the form of both individual and collaborative. Both can provide students with meaningful learning experiences and encourage their development of agency.

Myth 4: Agency is not defined by time alone

Some teachers may find it difficult because they think that developing student agency requires time. It’s crucial to note, however, that simply extending a unit of study does not guarantee student agency development. The quality of the experiences is more important than the quantity of time.

It is not the duration of time that students spend on a unit that matters, but rather the quality of the experience they have. A short unit can be designed to help students exercise agency and give them opportunities to take responsibility for their learning. Considering how students can practice, apply, demonstrate, and reflect on their learning within the given time frame could be more beneficial. Teachers also need to consider if there is sufficient time for students to receive and act upon feedback in order to meet the learning objectives. Furthermore, it is important to consider whether the unit is challenging, engaging, and relevant to the students and whether it motivates them to inquire further. Students are likely to lose motivation and interest if a unit is too long and doesn’t challenge their intellect.

Myth 5: Agency is not limited to high-achieving or mature students

Another myth is that only high-achieving or mature students are capable of developing student agency. This can’t be. All students can benefit from exercising student agency, regardless of their academic or personal progress.

A safe, accepting, and supportive environment must be established for student agency to be successful. When students are surrounded by a culture of trust and respect, learning is empowered. To encourage students to take risks and not be afraid to make mistakes, teachers should be empathetic, patient, and clear with their expectations.

Student agency is also fostered when students are guided to identify their strengths and areas for development and to set appropriate and meaningful personal learning goals. This process benefits every student, regardless of their academic performance. When supporting with immature students, it is crucial to provide them with positive encouragement, regular feedback, as well as clear guidance and structures.

So what is student agency?

I checked with a couple of publications to help clarify what student agency is.

According to the OECD Learning Compass 2030 published in 2019, student agency is 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.” (Page 4)

The concept of “co-agency” refers to the collaboration between students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders in the design and implementation of curricula that promote student agency and engagement. (OECD, 2020)

According to the International Baccalaureate Organization (2018), student agency refers to when “students take initiative, express interest and wonderings, make choices and are aware of their learning goals. They are actively engaged, and monitor and adjust their learning as needed. Students offer feedback to others and consult on decisions that affect them. In school, students take responsibility for their learning and collaborate with teachers and other students to plan, present and assess learning needs.”

The MYP Personal Project guide (updated May 2022) states that “Students set their own goal and choose how to achieve it. Students create their own articulation of what success will look like.” (page 5)

The MYP, DP, and CP publications rarely mention student agency. While it was referenced, it was always briefly stated, and the IB offers little suggestions for how to promote student agency in the publications in terms of how it might seem, sound, and feel.

In summary, agency refers to students’ ability to take charge of their own learning by setting goals, making meaningful choices, and reflecting on their progress. Students who exercise agency form partnerships with their teachers (or supportive adults), take initiative, express curiosity, and take responsibility for bringing about change in their learning environment. They are aware of their own learning goals and are able to take steps to achieve them. The teacher’s role is to provide guidance and direction within a structured environment while allowing students to make their own choices.

“When teachers acknowledge learner agency and the importance of self-efficacy, students become partners in the learning process. In this partnership, teachers work alongside students, meet with small groups and individuals as needed, and monitor learning and provide feedback.”

The Learner (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2018)

In what ways can we create conditions for students to exercise agency?

A fundamental shift in power dynamics between teachers and students is necessary to create the conditions for students to exercise agency. Learning must move from a hierarchical, teacher-led environment to one where students are actively involved.

Create a safe and inclusive learning environment

A safe, inclusive, and encouraging learning environment is necessary for students to feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes. This can be achieved by providing constructive feedback, promoting interaction and collaboration, and appreciating diverse student viewpoints and experiences. It is highly recommended to use visible thinking routines and discussion protocols with all students. Shifting Schools also offer various protocols to scaffold thinking and create a caring community.

Provide a balanced and broad curriculum

Schools can provide a balanced and broad curriculum by ensuring that students acquire conceptual understanding, knowledge and skills through a wide variety of diverse topics across all subjects. Students can also sign up for electives to further their understanding of a particular subject or participate in extracurricular activities to foster their interests and curiosities. Additionally, specific-subject teachers can give students options of choosing how they would like to show their understanding of the topic or how they wish to approach a specific task. If students have some degree of learning autonomy, they are more likely to take responsibility and ownership of their learning.

Lastly, I believe involving students in curriculum design can increase their agency and engagement in learning. Students are more likely to feel invested in their own learning and to take ownership of it when they are given a voice. At the end of the unit, teachers ask students what they found engaging, challenging, and relevant. We can improve the curriculum with their feedback.

Develop students’ executive function skills to increase agency

Executive function is a set of cognitive processes that enable individuals to plan, organize, initiate, monitor, and modify their actions to achieve their goals (Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, 2019). Strengthening executive functions in students can play a vital role in fostering their agency. Here are some ways in which enhancing executive functions might help students improve their agency:

Planning and goal setting: Teachers can encourage students to take responsibility for their learning by engaging them in the goal-setting process. To assist students in setting appropriate and meaningful personal learning goals, teachers must help students understand the learning intensions and communicate success criteria. In order to ensure students’ goals are achievable, teachers should provide guidance. Throughout the learning process, teachers provide students with the resources, support, and strategies needed to reach their goals. Here is a PEERS Student Goal Setting framework adapted from Jim Knight’s framework that teachers can use with their students.

Self-monitoring: Students who can monitor their own performance and adjust it when necessary are better equipped to take charge of their own learning. Self-monitoring allows students to reflect on their progress and make modifications to their approach as appropriate. By developing their skill to self-monitor, students can take control of their learning and build their awareness of agency.

Time management: For students who want to take control of their learning, effective time management is important. Being able  to prioritize assignments, break down large work into smaller actionable steps, and overcome procrastination can help students improve their productivity and become more active learners.

Flexibility & Adaptability: Students who can respond to unfamiliar situations and adapt accordingly are more likely to feel in control of their learning. We all know that there are so many things out of our control. It is critical that students develop skills in problem-solving and critical thinking so that they are resilient and adaptive to adversity. In order for students to be independent and adaptable learners, critical thinking and problem-solving skills are indispensable. When students are flexible and adaptable, they are more likely to take risks and discover new learning opportunities. We can help students develop flexibility and adaptability by encouraging a growth mindset, collaboration, and affective skills.

It is essential to develop students’ executive function skills as a means of promoting their agency. A bank of strategies is provided to help students develop executive function skills in 10 Executive Functioning Skills: The Ultimate Guide.

Develop awareness of locus of control

By developing students’ locus of control, we not only help them develop self-efficacy, but also help them build confidence when dealing with challenges. According to Psychology Today, “Locus of control refers to the degree to which an individual feels a sense of agency in regard to his or her life. Someone with an internal locus of control will believe that the things that happen to them are greatly influenced by their own abilities, actions, or mistakes. A person with an external locus of control will tend to feel that other forces” In order to explain the locus of control, I asked Chat GPT to provide an analogy. Chat GPT uses a driver’s locus of control as an analogy for explaining the locus of control.

If the driver has an internal locus of control, they believe that they are in control of the car and can make it go where they want by using the steering wheel, brakes, and accelerator. They take responsibility for their driving and believe that their actions have a direct impact on the car’s movement and destination.

In contrast, a driver with an external locus of control may believe that the car’s movement and destination are determined by factors outside of their control, such as road conditions, traffic, or the weather. They may feel that they have little control over their driving experience and that external factors are the primary determinants of their outcomes.

In the same way, students with an internal locus of control believe that they are in control of their learning outcomes and that their efforts and abilities can help them achieve their goals. They take responsibility for their learning and believe that their actions have a direct impact on their academic success. On the other hand, students with an external locus of control may believe that their learning outcomes are determined by factors outside of their control, such as the quality of teaching, their peers, or luck.

In summary, locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe they have control over the events that affect their lives, and it can have a significant impact on their actions, behaviors, and attitudes towards learning.

OpenAI

We can foster student agency by developing their internal locus of control. Students will be more inclined to take responsibility for their actions, set learning goals for themselves, and work towards achieving them. Furthermore, they are more likely to persevere when encountering challenges and setbacks because they believe they have the ability to overcome them. The strategies for developing students’ locus of control are very similar to those for developing executive function skills. Teachers ensure students set personal learning goals and create action plans to achieve them. Students self-monitor their progress toward their goals and adjust their approach if needed throughout the learning journey. It’s also important to guide students to reflect on their learning progress and identify areas where they have control over their academic success. Affective skills related to resilience should be explicitly taught here: dealing with disappointment, unmet expectations, bouncing back after adversity, mistakes, and failures; failing well; and dealing with change.

Engage students with feedback to develop self-efficacy

For students to take control and ownership of their learning, self-efficacy is essential. Student self-efficacy development benefits greatly from feedback. Students who receive frequent, focused, and credible feedback on their performance are more engaged and have higher levels of self-efficacy (Kirk, 2019).

It’s important to focus on the process rather than the product when offering feedback. Teachers can provide students with constructive comments in various formats and help them identify areas where they can develop or become more self-efficacious. As such, they provide students with actionable steps they can take to complete their tasks and reach their learning goals. Most importantly, it’s crucial to provide students with strategies that will enable them to draw connections between their prior learning and experiences and notice their improvement as a result, which might help them increase their confidence. Teachers can engage students in the learning process and support the growth of their self-efficacy by giving them frequent and focused feedback. Students will have better learning outcomes as a result of this.

If this is of interest to you, here is my action research that discusses developing self-regulating learners through a systematic formative feedback process.

Enhance student learning through critical reflection

Build in time for students to critically reflect and teach them how to do so. Students are better able to process knowledge, evaluate their own progress, and identify areas where they need to improve when they are given time to reflect on their learning experiences. In this way, students may be able to control their own learning more effectively and become more aware of the success of their efforts. As teachers guide students through this process of reflection and support them in formulating important questions like “What did I learn?”, “What went well? Even better if…”, and “What could I have done differently?,” assist students in developing self-regulation skills and self-efficacy.

Here are my previous posts where I wrote about guiding students to reflect critically. I highly encourage teachers to use protocols to teach students to reflect critically.

• Harness the power of reflection through storytelling
• 6 Reflection sticky notes
• Reflective Writing Guide

How Do We Know Students Are Demonstrating Agency?

According toThe Learner published by International Baccalaureate Organization (2018), Students demonstrate agency when they:

• influence and direct their own learning
• make choices
• voice opinions
• ask questions and express wonderings
• communicate understandings
• construct new meanings
• participate in and contribute to the learning community.

Conclusion

Student agency is a powerful concept that can transform learning in the classroom and beyond. When teachers create an environment of safety and inclusion, provide meaningful instruction, engage students with feedback, teach executive function skills and promote responsibility for learning, students are empowered to make decisions about their learning and take ownership of their education. Providing students with agency can help them attain the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to become lifelong learners. For more resources on developing student agency and the continuum, check out Making Learning Personal, The 7 Elements of Student Agency.

References

• Center on the Developing Child Harvard University (2019). What is Executive Function? How Executive Functioning Skills Affect Early Development. [online] Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Available at: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/what-is-executive-function-and-how-does-it-relate-to-child-development/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].
• International Baccalaureate Organization (2018). The learner. p.2.
• Kirk, K. (2019). Self-Efficacy. [online] Affective Domain. Available at: https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/efficacy.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2023].
• OECD (2019). Well-being 2030 Action. [online] OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/contact/OECD_Learning_Compass_2030_Concept_Note_Series.pdf [Accessed 1 Apr. 2023].
• OECD (2020). Curriculum (re)design a Series of Thematic Reports from the OECD Education 2030 Project OVERVIEW BROCHURE. [online] Available at: https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/contact/brochure-thematic-reports-on-curriculum-redesign.pdf.
• Psychology Today (n.d.). Locus of Control | Psychology Today United Kingdom. [online] www.psychologytoday.com. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/locus-control [Accessed 7 Apr. 2023].
• Spencer, J. (2020). 4 Ways to Craft Choice Menus in Distance Learning Classes. [online] John Spencer. Available at: https://spencerauthor.com/choice-menus/ [Accessed 28 Mar. 2023].