Student Voice vs Student Agency
Student Agency. What does it mean to you. What it means to me now is very different from what it meant to me a month ago.
The paragraph below lit a fuse. It has been floating in and out of my headspace for a few weeks now. It redefined the concept of Student Agency to me. I think it sums up where we really need to be leading our schools. I think it gives a direction for future focus and vision.
Read it and think deeply about how this sits in your #edusoul.
It lit a fuse in mine.
“The entire school is composed of adults and students, but students are the reason of existence for schools. Thus, schools and everything in the school environment should incorporate and serve the students, yet most schools do not have policies and processes that enable students to participate in making decisions about the school — the environment, the rules and regulations, the curriculum, the assessment, and the adults in the school”
Y. Zhao from The Changes we need: Education Post Covid, 2021
If student agency is described as a true opening of the door to co-construction of learning experiences, to co-creation of curriculum structures and community experiences, then we are definitely not digging into Student Agency. To me, it’s my new beacon. Understanding this construct has given me a new focus, a new ‘edge’ to explore. A new ‘edge’ for which I can consider possibilities. I like this edge. I am excited about where it may take me.
At this stage, I feel we are playing around the edges of student agency, we are giving a snippet of possibility, but we are scared to hand over the reins. We ask our students if they feel a sense of agency, but do they? DO they even consider they might actually be able to have a say in how they want their education to be constructed? What experiences do they need in order to move toward their future passions? Or have we willed their head with our interpretation of the concept of student agency?
Voice vs Agency…
While I am still on a journey into understanding Student Agency, one thing I do know is that Student Voice is not Student Agency.
Student Voice is what we do in projects. It’s the videos we make, the posters we create, the debates we hold, the musicals we perform. It is not Student Agency. There is nothing wrong with it, and indeed, it is perhaps the first step along a continuum of Student Agency, but let’s not kid ourselves that the 1-minute video they made on a social issue in their community is the end point to a journey in Student Agency.
I feel better now that I have got that out… now it’s time to read, learn, explore, and consider…. join me.
