5 Questions for Expanding Learner Agency

A lot of educators have boarded the “increase learner agency in classrooms” train over the past few years. In a world where connected learners have a lot more choice over the what, when, how, and with whom to learn, we’re finally starting to recognize the value of letting kids practice those choices while they are with us.

All good.

But “voice and choice” isn’t nearly enough. A real shift in agency in classrooms requires much more than a pedagogical tweak. It demands a reframing of who we are as individual teachers and institutions, and cuts to the very essence of our work.

Agency means freedom, and freedom is a commitment.

So where to start? If you’re serious about creating classrooms where kids have more power to learn on their own terms, here are five questions to consider first:

1. Do you have a shared, coherent definition of “learning” in your school community? If you really want to expand learner agency, you better all be on the same page about what learning is.
2. Do you have an understanding in your school community of how the world is changing? If you’re not designing agentic spaces and experiences around how learners can learn in the world today, you’re not really preparing them for all of the opportunities that exist now and will exist in the future.
3. Are you living a relevant, coherent, shared mission? For many schools, their “raison d’etre” has been rendered irrelevant by the speed of change in the world.
4. Do you have a clear vision of classroom practice that fulfills your mission? Unless everyone has a clear picture of what real learner agency looks like in practice, it will be difficult for teachers and leaders to design a more effective learning environment.
5. Do you have a culture of agency? If the adults in the school don’t have the freedom to pursue their practice on their own terms in a trusted environment, any attempts at expanding true learner agency for students will fail.

When we facilitate these conversations with schools and organizations, most find it difficult work. The fact is we don’t carve out nearly enough time to talk about learning, much less about creating the conditions that are most effective in developing people who can learn their way through whatever an uncertain future may throw at them.

Yet, the most powerful learning that we do in our own lives is built on our ability to choose our own path, find our own teachers, and show what we’ve learned through experience. Never in history has there been more opportunity or need to do that. The challenge now is creating that opportunity in our classrooms.