3 Keys To Supporting Learner Agency

Steven WeberBlog, Differentiate Better, Engage Better, Lesson Plan Better, Reflect Better

TL;DR:

  • Learner Agency involves students setting goals, reflecting, and applying skills in new contexts, with productive struggle enhancing retention and deeper understanding.
  • Scaffolding, Project-Based Learning, and amplifying student voice through interactive methods are key strategies to foster learner agency and self-regulation.
  • Focusing on employability skills such as analytical thinking, creativity, and resilience, education must shift to more engaging, independent, and critical learning environments.

3 Keys To Supporting Learner Agency

Learner Agency occurs when students set goals, reflect, and are empowered to apply and transfer their skills in new situations. This type of learning is also referred to as lifelong learning. When teachers design lessons that require productive struggle, it is more likely that students will practice and experience agency. In classrooms, “allowing productive struggle to occur consumes more class time.  But retention is undermined when learning is frictionless. Purposeful struggle today means less re-teaching tomorrow” (Finley, 2014).

Agentic learners have been described as proactive, self-regulating, reflective, and confident. 

According to the World Economic Forum (Masterson, 2023), the top 5 in-demand employability skills are:

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Creative Thinking
  • Resilience, Flexibility, and Agility
  • Motivation and Self-Awareness
  • Curiosity and Lifelong Learning

As teachers prepare students for success in life, it is important to ask whether our assignments and assessments are providing students with opportunities to create and contribute. What is the current ratio of consumption versus student contribution? According to Grant Wiggins (2014), “Transfer is the bottom-line goal of all learning, not scripted behavior. Transfer means that a learner can draw upon and apply from all of what was learned, as the situation warrants, not just do one move at a time in response to a prompt.” Traditional classrooms have emphasized grades, completion, coverage, and standards.  

Learner Agency occurs when students set goals, reflect, and are empowered to apply and transfer their skills in new situations. Click To Tweet

When employers are asked which skills they seek in employees, they emphasize employability skills and thinking skills. Teaching content and skills should be seen as an ‘and/both’, rather than an ‘either/or.’ “Nearly two-thirds of the companies in the Cengage/Morning Consult study said they struggle to find candidates with critical thinking skills. Many recent grads can give the textbook version of anything, but they struggle to see or solve anything beyond the book and outside the box” (McGovern, 2023).

Key 1: Scaffolding

There is a temptation to provide a watered-down lesson when students lack key skills or when a majority of the students enter the class with a wide range of readiness levels. Scaffolding is a strategy that allows the learner to practice and gain confidence. Scaffolding has proven to be an effective instructional strategy with all learners, including advanced secondary courses.

Think of a six-year-old who is learning to play baseball.  Rather than having another player pitch the ball, many leagues use a “tee.” T-Ball simulates the game of baseball, but the players don’t have to hit a moving pitch or fear being hit by the pitch. Scaffolding is designed to empower learners and to support learner agency.  When scaffolding is used in classrooms, each learner can build upon existing strengths while learning key skills and concepts.

Key 2:  Project-Based Learning

Too often, K-12 classrooms teach students the rules of the game, practice drills, and even scrimmage. By the end of the unit, it is time to move to the next unit before students have time to play the game. Project-Based Learning supports Learner Agency when it is accompanied by a rubric or success criteria. Several classrooms require students to complete projects that are the same and do not require deep understanding. When student work is on display and 25 projects look identical, there is little evidence of learner agency.  

Assignments, projects, and assessments must allow students to practice self-regulation. Teaching and learning involve goal setting, scaffolding, support, feedback, and metacognition. When students learn how to self-regulate, they will be equipped to navigate life’s challenges. For additional insight on Learner Agency through Project-Based Learning, watch this video titled, Are We Preparing Students To Be Chefs or Cooks? (Juliani, 2018). Teacher teams often ask, ‘Did the students learn it?’ A better question would be, ‘What evidence will each learner provide to demonstrate their understanding?’ Project-Based learning supports resilience, flexibility, and agility.

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Key 3:  Student Voice

Student voice allows for reflection, explanation, justification, debate, and persuasion. Some classrooms have more teacher voice than student voice. Amplifying student voice allows each learner to explain their thinking and process their thoughts with a group. It is much more than answering the teacher’s questions. Students need time to wrestle with the content and ask their own questions. Some instructional strategies for amplifying student voice include:

  • Accountable Talk Stems
  • Bell Ringer Activity
  • Create a Video
  • Debate
  • Document Based Question
  • Essential Questions
  • Gallery Walk
  • Genius Hour
  • Internship
  • Presentation
  • Project-Based Learning
  • Quick Write
  • Role Play
  • Socratic Seminar

“By creating the conditions to empower learning we are able to shift from dispensing knowledge and ‘telling’ our learners what or how to do something, to an environment where every individual grows into a leader of their learning” (Bostwick, 2019). When students solve authentic problems, engage with their peers, and practice the art of communication, they will grow and become contributing members of the class.

Why Not Now?

Student engagement is low across the United States. “If students are engaged 60% of the time, a 30-hour instructional week amounts to more like 18 hours of actual learning. This means that a 1,080-hour school year amounts to a 650-hour school year” (Hess, 2023). In the course of a school day, millions of students perform low level work, watch videos, complete online worksheets using a device, and rarely have to think critically.

“If our goal is to support students in becoming self-directed, independent and interdependent, then we must provide a learning environment that supports them in doing so” (Shaw, 2017). At its core, Learner Agency is about equipping students with the skills they need to succeed in class and life. Learner Agency is a bridge between a K-12 education and adult life, where each person will need to be proactive, self-regulating, reflective, and confident.

References

Bostwick, E. (2019). Amplifying student voice: Unleash limitless potential. Inspire Innovation Blog. https://elisabethbostwick.com/2019/10/17/amplifying-student-voice-unleash-limitless-potential/

Finley, T. (2014). 4 things transformational teachers do. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/big-things-transformational-teachers-do-todd-finley

Hess, F.H. (2023). Rethinking school time. Kappan. https://kappanonline.org/rethinking-school-time-hess 

Juliani. A.J. (2018). Are we preparing students to be chefs or cooks? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBS6MJ-YcEM

Masterson, V. (2023). Future of jobs 2023: These are the most in-demand skills now – and beyond. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/05/future-of-jobs-2023-skills

McGovern, M. (2023). Soft skills gap: 8 things new hires don’t know — and how to train for them. HRMorning. https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/soft-skills-gap

Shaw. A. (2017). How flexible learning spaces support student learning. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-flexible-learning-spaces-support-student-anne-shaw

Wiggins, G. (2014). Great teaching means letting go. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/great-teaching-means-letting-go

About Steven Weber

Dr. Steven Weber is a curriculum leader. He has served on multiple state and national boards. His areas of research include curriculum design, multiplying leaders, professional learning, and school leadership.