Promoting Children’s Agency in Education and Learning

  The United Nations state:

‘Children have the right to be active participants in all aspects in their life’

Children’s education is usually decided for them by adults – schools, government and parents. What they learn, when they learn it and how they learn it. The assumption that comes from this is that children are incapable of making decisions about their own learning.  Many educational settings take away so many choices from children; what they learn, how long they can spend on a subject, when they eat and who they work alongside to name a few. A balance of adult power and direction should be closely monitored. Pedagogical and institutional practices can either enable or constrain children’s agency (Smith 2016).

The reality is that children have a natural disposition for learning and are active. Allowing children to make choices and have agency over their learning has multiple benefits.

v  Will let the child learn in a way that suits them best. (Visually, auditorily, kinetically, writing/reading). This will increase what knowledge and information is remembered and absorbed.

v  Will let them follow interests.

v  It will encourage decision making and conflict management

v  It encourages positive risk taking

v  Let’s them follow their body rhythms

How can we support children’s agency in their learning?

v  Create an environment that has choices and allows the child to decide in what they participate in.

v  Promote positive risk taking (allow them to climb that tree!!!)

v  Have a flexible routine – nothing can be more frustrating than just getting into something only to be told you can’t continue and must move on to a different subject or activity.

v  Be co-constructors in their learning – be guided by them, their interests and listen to their ideas.

v  Ask questions that encourage the child to lead their own learning

Supporting children’s agency recognises that the child is capable of leading and initiating their own learning.