Course 3: Learners and Learning

Associate Prof. George Oduro

Commonwealth Education Trust
Foundations of Teaching for Learning

Course 3:
Week 2: How Children Learn
Lecture 2: What is ‘agency’?
 Agency

Agency is the capacity of an ‘agent’ (a human being or any

living being) to act in the world – to make a choice, to think
independently and to assume responsibility for their actions.
It may be a conscious thought through choice, or unconscious,
simply a way of behaving. Whether conscious or unconscious
it implies taking control for yourself, or in concert with others.
 Questions of Choice

One capacity of human beings is to make choices. These may involve:

 Moral choices
 Social choice
 Behavioural choices
 Subject choices
 Career choices

These are normally contrasted to choices made by others on your behalf, or

‘deterministic’ choices which involve simple unthinking compliance.
 Individual and Collective Agency

Individual I act by myself

I make choices
I am responsible for what I do
I account for my actions

We act together
Collective We make choices
We are jointly responsible for
what we do
We hold each other to account
 Letting Go

As a group of teachers in our school we talked a lot about

‘letting go’ and giving more responsibility to our students as
individuals and as a group. It was a bit of a risky business and
we made some mistakes and nearly gave up on the whole
idea. It took time, and a little heart searching. But it was
worth it as my job, our jobs, are a whole lot easier and more
fulfilling.
(Teacher Tanzania)
Teacher agency

Student agency
 Teacher Agency

 How much agency do you enjoy as a teacher?

 How does it express itself?
 Where is it most likely to express itself?
 Where is it most constrained?
 What accounts for that?
 How could it be different?
 How does it affect student agency?
 Some Things To Do Next…

 Discuss with your colleagues how they encourage children to

have a greater sense of agency
 Discuss with your colleagues how you might work together
to create a greater sense of agency within the school as a
whole
 Read some of the articles that are in the extended reading list
 Make your own list of actions that students could take to be
more responsible and accountable for their actions
Foundations of Teaching for Learning

Copyright Notice
Week 2, Lecture 2