Learner Agency

In a personalized learning environment, there is a lot of flexibility. In order to be successful in a flexible environment, students need to be able to handle making choices and advocating for themselves as well as taking ownership over their learning in order to ensure success, which is the skill of learner agency. As educators, we should provide supports as needed until students feel comfortable enough to take responsibility and make their own learning decisions.

According to the GAPSC Standards for Personalized Learning, learner agency is where students "advocate for their needs, preferences, interests, to plan and drive their learning". In her article, Kathleen McClaskey shares the "Continuum of the Expert Learner with Agency", which includes seven elements: voice, choice, engagement, motivation, ownership, purpose, and self-efficacy. Among these elements, the major focus of McClaskey's and others' studies is on voice and choice. Voice is an element of learning where students are able to use their voice to share opinions, make their own decisions, and advocate for themselves. Choice is an element of learning where students are able to choose how they are interacting with content and others in the learning environment. Barbara Bray developed the "Spectrum of Voice" to represent the different levels of voice that students use in the classroom, and this level could shift based on the content, classroom environment, or task at hand. They range from students volunteering an opinion (Expression) to students planning and making decisions with others (Leadership). In addition to this, Bray also developed the "Opportunities for Choice" depending on the level of comfort the student has with learner agency. McClaskey ties voice and choice to learner agency by outlining the "Stages of Personalized Learning", of which there are three: Teacher-Centered, Learner-Centered, and Learner-Driven. As a student progresses from Stage One to Stage Two and then Stage Three, the onus is more and more on the student, so the student is increasing learner agency and taking further ownership of their learning.

These tools from McClaskey and Bray relate very well to Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL allows for students to experience choice and voice in regard to Engagement (how they interact with the content), Representation (how they access the content), and Action & Expression (how they produce a demonstration of mastery). This idea ties back to the GAPSC's definition of learner agency, because students can choose how they are moving through the curriculum, especially in regard to preferences, at each step of the learning process.

Learner agency is very involved, as the teacher-centered classroom is shifting to a point where the teacher is the facilitator and the learning process is student-centered instead. All of the resources listed above are great starting points for engaging in improved learner agency with students.

Research-Based Strategies

Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning is the idea, developed by CAST, that students will engage in different ways with the content as they move through the learning process, all based on their preferences and choice. In order to implement UDL, the teacher must allow multiple means of three elements: Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. For example, when engaging with the content, the teacher can provide visual notes, a video, a podcast, or a kinesthetic hands-on activity; furthermore, when students are expressing their mastery of the content, they could choose to create a digital presentation, record a video or podcast, create a physical poster, write a presentation, or anything else they can think of that is teacher-approved.

Choice Boards

Choice boards are a great strategy to use for learner agency, because it allows student choice in their learning process. If you are working within a unit and there are different strands/domains that you are covering, you can make choice board with a column/row for each strand/domain and ensure that students complete one from each column/row. You can also do this with standards, and learning styles, or even relate it to Universal Design for Learning by including a column/row each for how students access content, engage with it, and show mastery. A great addition to the traditional choice board seen in most classrooms is the use of the "Choose Your Own" or "Free Space" option. This allows students who want guidance to choose from teacher-created options, and it allows students who want to advocate for their own learning modalities or interests to propose a different mastery option to be approved by the teacher.

I Can Statements

I Can Statements are almost like a checklist for student success. By using I Can Statements, you are giving ownership of learning to the student, because they will check off each statement after they self-reflect and confirm that they can indeed complete that task or have mastered that standard. They can move on once they are comfortable with their own level of success, and if they are not ready, then it forces them to advocate for themselves to get assistance before moving forward. Also, if students are engaging in Universal Design for Learning, there will be various outcomes when the students show mastery. The I Can Statements ensure that despite the multitude of demonstrations, all students will be able to show the same skills that relate to the curriculum; it just looks different to different people. Students can get overwhelmed by too much decision-making or autonomy, so these statements give them a baseline to work off as a safeguard to make sure they are not straying too far from what the general topic is.

Environmental Changes

Flexible Pacing

Traditional classrooms have everyone doing the same thing at the same time. However, flexible pacing allows for learner agency, because all students to not learn the same way, and students need more or less time than others to master a concept. Teachers can implement flexible pacing within a single school day, a week, a unit, or a semester. For example, if you have an hour-long class period and students have three tasks to complete, you could allow students to take as much time as needed for those assignments, and they can move on when ready. Students who finish with extra time can participate in enrichment, or they can engage in Bray's Partnership level on the Spectrum of Voice by teaching others who are still working. Students must take ownership of their learning with flexible pacing, because they are able to make decisions, and they must self-reflect on when they are ready to move on.

Co-Planning

Instead of having all students complete the same assessment of mastery, teachers can opt for co-planning. Co-planning is the process of the teacher and the student working together as co-designers of the learning process to make a plan for mastery demonstration. In order to allow voice and choice, the teacher will leave mastery demonstration as an open-ended assignment. The teacher and student will co-plan to decide how the student will show mastery, what tools/media are appropriate for this demonstration, and a target due date for completion. Elements of co-planning can become more Teacher-Centered or Learner-Centered than Learner-Driven as needed, such as the teacher providing a due date. Co-planning forces students to take ownership of their learning, because they are making decisions every step of the way for the mastery demonstration.

Implementation

In my classroom, I consistently utilize choice boards/menus. As a Latin teacher, I am aware of the fact that all students interact differently with language and the different features of it. Learning styles in particular differ when engaging in this learning process, so I try to provide options for all types of learners. For example, when I give students independent time to practice the current chapter's vocabulary, I provide options for students such as physically writing down the vocabulary, playing a review game like Gimkit or Blooket, reviewing Google Slides with images included, quizzing each other audibly, or playing physical games such as the Quizlet Match feature on my Flat Panel at the front of the room. Some students have even chosen to create actions to go with each word, and when they see it in a Latin reading passage, they will do the action! Furthermore, one of my emergency substitute lesson plans is always a vocabulary choice board with which students can interact with the current chapter's vocabulary and/or older chapters that they feel they need to review. With the pacing guide we have to adhere to, we go through a chapter of vocabulary a week, so any kind of vocabulary practice that fits student needs will be beneficial to them.

References

Bray, B. (2018). Spectrum of voice: Developing self-regulation, autonomy, and agency. Rethinking Learning.
https://barbarabray.net/2018/05/08/continuum-of-choice-choosing-the-learning-path-to-find-passion-and-purpose/

Bray, B. (2018). Opportunities for choice: The learning path to advocacy and innovation. Rethinking Learning.
https://barbarabray.net/2018/05/08/continuum-of-choice-choosing-the-learning-path-to-find-passion-and-purpose/

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Georgia Professional Standards Commission. (2019, January 15). GAPSC standards for personalized learning.

https://www.gapsc.com/Rules/Current/EducatorPreparation/505-3-.108.pdf?dt=%3C%25

Martin, J. (2004). Self-regulated learning, social cognitive theory, & agency. Educational Psychologist 39(2). 135-145.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326985ep3902_4

McClaskey, K. (2016, March 17). Developing the expert learner through the stages of personalized learning. Personalized Learning LLC.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse