12 - Agency

Summary

If young people are to be equipped to shape the future, then a key outcome of their learning experience needs to be the development of their own agency. Learners who have agency are purposive, reflective and action-oriented. Agency means developing goals, initiating action, reflecting on and regulating progress and belief in self-efficacy. Just like thriving, we can understand agency as a process or as an outcome of learning at a variety of levels: individual, collaborative and collective. Agency – and co-agency – are at the heart of the OECD Framework for Education and Skills 2030. Agency is central to transformational competencies: creating new value; taking responsibility; coping with tensions and trade-offs. In the school context, agency can be learned and exercised through stutdent voice, student leadership and student ownership of learning. Beyond the school walls, agency can be learned and exercised when students engage in community issues that matter. Some systems are now explicitly promoting agency with support resources and materials but government can do more to ensure that schools can promote learner agency while meeting regulative and accountability requirements.