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Learner Agency & Student Voice — The Subtle Difference All Educators Need To Know
The concept of “student voice” has always felt a little flimsy.
A much better phrase is “learner agency”, as this is broader and encompasses all the learners in the community.
To be successful with this type of change, we must first understand what learner agency is and how it manifests itself in learning communities.
This post outlines some of the pieces we need on this journey along with pitfalls, provocations and prods for reflection.
What is learner agency?
The concept of agency is complex. After all, it is about control. Traditionally the locus of control is with the adults in school.
When we begin to, more accurately, consider student voice or learner agency as the capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of one’s life we are beginning to take steps towards a more explicit rationale for it in schools.
With this in mind, the word agency has been used to describe one’s capacity to make decisions about their learning.
Learner agency is typically associated with an individual having autonomy over what, how and when they learn.
