What is the Impact when Teachers Promote Student Agency in the K - 5 Classroom?
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"Part of teaching is helping people create themselves."   Maxine Greene

A group of elementary teachers came together and focused on actions and language to make agency come alive for their students.

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Promoting Student Agency

With the restrictions to school due to Covid-19, our team was discouraged by the growing dependence of students who had been well on their way to being independent thinkers and confident communicators.  My action research is all about finding ways to promote and encourage student agency.  Despite the challenges of the pandemic, our team made agreements to do all we could to help students “get their groove back” through voice, choice, and inquiry in our classrooms.
In a rapidly changing, complex world, students must be able to own and adapt their learning in order to act with intention and purpose.  The teacher plays a vital role in building agency and self-efficacy through learning experiences and creating a culture that gives the student the power to act. Developing agency and independence has become a more urgent priority in order for students to regain their momentum as learners and be prepared for the unpredictable future ahead.


"Teaching for agency sets students up for generative acts, for creativity, for problem solving in the most powerful way."
                                                                 Peter Johnston

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