Creating a classroom environment that promotes agency is something really important to me, but how do you get students or adults to start to develop a sense of agency on their own? There are many definitions of agency in education, and not enough used for educators. Key aspects in the definitions of student agency out there include choice and voice and taking ownership of what they learn. People assume because teachers are adults, they must have agency, too. But agency is a bit more complicated because, at its heart, it comes with a sense of permission.
Agency is about giving your students permission to have their say and teaching them how to take ownership of their learning. What happens, though, when students are using agency and they get told not to choose that or to select a different next step in their learning. True agency is more than the sense of permission given by the teacher or educator. Real agency is something we have to learn to give to ourselves and, when permission is not granted, something that drives us to find another way or to build outside the blocks.
In the article Part 1: What Do You Mean When You Say “Student Agency”? from Education Reimagined, Jennifer Davis Poon explores the meanings of agency and consolidates them into the graphic below:
In order to truly promote agency for students, we must help give them the tools and the permission to set goals, work towards them with support, reflect and, as an outcome, build their sense of efficacy. I wonder why this is not something we promote for educators?
Three years ago, just after I launched The Personal Playlist Podcast, Stephen Hurley of voicEd Radio asked me the strangest question about my Building Outside the Blocks approach and projects. He asked, "Who gave you permission?" I remember the shock I had felt when I heard the question. At first, being a pleaser, I was worried that I had done something wrong signalled by the burning anxious feeling that welled up in my chest. Then, that feeling dissipated leaving room for wonder. Where did I get permission to build outside the blocks?
The book,The Courage to Create by Rollo May, was first introduced to me by my Philosophy of Art professor, Dr Dennis Hudecki. It was one of those books that stays with you. Thinking back on some of what I took away, I reflected on the necessity of struggle that the collection of essays asserts along with the factors that feed creativity. When I was trying to recall some of the text, I came upon this article by Dr. Joaquin Krueger in Psychology Today. Krueger refers to the author saying, "May does not see the presence of challenges and constraints as something bad, but as essential to the creative process."
I have always been the kind of person who uses parameters for inspiration. They provide me with a framework from which I can be creative but they also ground my practice. Every project that I can recall, from to elementary all the way up to graduate school, reflected my imagination. I could always find a unique angle to meeting the assignment requirements. Whether it was writing a rap instead of a speech, creating Math centres for my practicum that included an original recording of songs, or a project where I created a piece of art that wove my life’s story through a tree for a narrative project, I use the “blocks” as a catalyst for my imagination. I have been building my sense of agency all my life and I gave myself permission to use it in my profession.
The Building Outside the Blocks approach has helped my students learn, grow and, often, shine. My projects, that I share widely, are invitations for students to develop original products, use edtech, and bring pieces of themselves to the classroom where we all benefit and learn from each other. BOBs provide clear parameters but all the room for wherever a student's imagination takes them. They are permission slips for creativity. I'm excited to be presenting on some of the m at ECOO Camp next Thursday.
It was during our construction over the summer that I came to see just how much agency we had as educators building The Mentoree, With the support of the leadership team, I realized that we were creating opportunities for teachers to learn, feel better about their work and improve their sense of efficacy through various forms of mentorship in boardless and borderless ways. This initiative to support educators requires a sense of agency from anyone joining the community, and it is especially necessary when self directing a mentorship experience. One has to give themselves permission to learn something new, to have a voice, or to be creative because our systems don't always leave explicit room for this. There is a sense of agency that an educator has to have to pursue their own learning, especially when it is not for additional accreditation that translates into a pay increase. When educators, on their own volition, seek challenges and try new things, they have given themselves permission; they are agents in their work.
If there was ever a time to give yourself permission, the time is now. Going back to Stephen's question, I allowed myself to be creative, but I had already developed a sense of agency over time and as a result of many different challenges in education and in my professional experiences. I return to the words of Dr. Krueger who wrote, "Without limitations or constraints, the creative capacities of mind have nothing to guide them, no problem to solve, no barrier to overcome." I guess it is lucky that education is full of constraints because that makes it a breeding ground for agency and creativity.
There are many blocks in education, and right now we are facing a unique and overwhelming time. Sometimes, blocks are imposed upon us by time, curriculum expectations or the state fo the world. Other times, we create our own blocks out of habits of mind. With so many unknowns right now and the possibility of having to return to an archaic way of frontal teaching because of Covid, agency and creativity are more important than ever. As you are making plans to give your students agency by providing permission slips for choice and voice and teaching them how to set and attain goals, give yourself permission, too. If you have not yet found the "courage to create", please find me or someone at The Mentoree to help you develop your sense of agency, be creative, think outside the box, and build outside the blocks. It's been a game changer for me.
