Learner Choice, Learner Voice

A Teacher's Guide to Promoting Agency in the Classroom

Ryan L Schaaf, Becky Zayas, Ian Jukes

• Éditeur: Routledge
• Année: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000591521
• Édition: 1
• Sujet: Éducation
• Sous-sujet: Gestion de la salle de classe

Learner Choice, Learner Voice offers fresh, forward-thinking supports for teachers creating an empowered, student-centered classroom. Learner agency is a major topic in today's schools, but what does it mean in practice, and how do these practices give students skills and opportunities they will need to thrive as citizens, parents, and workers in our ever-shifting climate? Showcasing authentic activities and classrooms, this book is full of diverse instructional experiences that will motivate your students to take an agile, adaptable role in their own learning. This wealth of pedagogical ideas – from specific to open-ended, low-tech to digital, self-expressive to collaborative, creative to critical – will help you discover the transformative effects of providing students with ownership, agency, and choice in their learning journeys.

1What is Learner Agency?

DOI: 10.4324/9781003102984-2

Writer Kathleen McClaskey said, “A learner with agency is a learner that is future-ready!” (2017, para. 10). But this sentiment wasn’t always the case. Ancient cultures practiced many different forms of schooling. Egypt, Japan, Mesopotamia, and Greece saw the advantage of having an intellectual class that could read and write. Over time, more and more children began entering places we would loosely describe as schools. In these settings, mentors, wise men, clergy, parents, tutors, and teachers would impart their knowledge or teach trades to their young charges. In most instances, the teacher was the ultimate source of information and font of all knowledge, acting as the primary gateway to learning for all of their students.

In examining this dynamic, the learners provided fertile, malleable minds and imaginations for their teachers. This was the perfect medium to shape the next generations of academics and scholars in their societies. In return, the teachers, tutors, or mentors required disciplined, obedient, and passive learners who were willing to immerse themselves in the lessons. In the hearts and minds of learners, teachers were simultaneously the engineers and gatekeepers of their tomorrows.

Over time, as more children and young adults were provided with the opportunity for an education, schools evolved into the versions we experienced and in which many of us now teach. Many of us experienced the 2 × 4 × 6 model of learning – information contained within two covers of a textbook, taught within four walls of a classroom, and separated into six evenly spaced instructional periods a day.

When schools had to produce individuals who would grow up to become the farmers, factory workers, or other routine cognitive workers needed for the 20th-century economy, this system worked exceptionally well. This model taught students to obey the rules, listen closely, follow directions, never question authority, be on time, meet deadlines, complete work, answer questions when called upon, and only speak when spoken to.

In the predictable, stable, and slowly evolving world of yesterday, schools produced the ideal student. The challenge is that this predictable, stable, and slowly evolving world of yesterday is not the world we live in today. Today’s world is unpredictable, unstable, and volatile. Disruptive factors, such as the evolution of technological systems, and the emergence of artificial intelligence have created a world filled with fundamental uncertainty. This has only been amplified by the arrival of COVID-19, which has sent education into a giant tailspin.

If the educators of today want to prepare their students for living, working, and learning in a rapidly evolving world; if the educators of today want to help their learners solve the problems that will confront the next generations of humanity; if the educators of today want to motivate their learners so they can flourish in the uncertain times that await us all; if the educators of today believe their primary mission is to prepare their learners for their tomorrows and not just our yesterdays, then we must empower them to work and live independently because, after all, once they leave our schools, they are on their own – sink, swim, or soar.

Student or Learner?

As we move forward, we must appreciate that students are not just students – they are also learners. Some educators may see this differentiation as the proverbial splitting of hairs. After all, “student” is a term all teachers have come to use without much thought of its origin. In fact, the word “student” comes from the Latin studeium, which translates as “painstaking application.”

Educators commonly use the terms “student” and “learner” interchangeably. The problem with this practice is that the term “student” is anchored in a traditional educational mindset. According to Wikipedia, a student is defined as a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution with the goal of acquiring knowledge. Using this definition, the student is a product of the place in which they learn.

By comparison, Merriam-Webster identifies a learner as an individual gaining knowledge or understanding of or skill by study, instruction, or experience. Although the student/learner distinction may seem little more than a matter of semantics, the difference is substantial – it’s a matter of mindset. By shifting the emphasis and power structure from schools to learners, we, as educators, begin to discover opportunities to change the focus of education to empower learners to become independent, divergent thinkers and doers. Let’s drill a little deeper into our differentiation between (see Figure 1.1) students and learners.

Student Versus Learner Mindset

In differentiating between student and learner, we are not criticizing or demeaning schools, educators, or the term “students.” Every day a great deal of hard work and encouraging practice goes on in schools. The authors are all advocates, fans, and even cheerleaders for the hard work being undertaken. Our goal in writing this book is to encourage individuals both inside and outside of education to seriously consider how we can empower learners rather than just restricting them. Educational philosopher Robert Hutchins said it best, “The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives” (Bush, 1992). Learners must become the primary agents of their learning.

Figure 1.1 Student vs. learner mindset

How Do Others Define Learner Agency?

There is no broad consensus related to the definition of learner agency. However, there appears to be a great deal of overlap between each and every viewpoint. Holdsworth (2018) defines learner agency as “the active and purposeful learning by students that builds their capacity to take action” (para. 3). Jennifer Poon, Fellow at the Center for Innovation in Education, suggests there are four components of learner agency: setting advantageous goals, initiating action toward those goals, reflecting on or regulating progress toward those goals, and actively pursuing self-efficacy (learner’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular situation) (Poon, 2018).

Perhaps the most influential voice in this scholarly pursuit is Margaret Vaughn, an associate professor at the University of Idaho. She simplifies learner agency as a “student’s desire, ability, and power to determine their course of action” (Vaughn, 2018, p. 63). The framework we adapted (see Figure 1.2) helps to categorize the educational community’s three dimensions of learner agency.

The first dimension targets dispositions, which are the attitudes, tendencies, and character traits displayed by learners. Ideally, learners should demonstrate their ability to be creative, take risks, and be goal-driven. The next dimension focuses on motivation, which involves a learner’s belief in his or her ability to be successful and monitor their own progress toward a goal. Finally, the third dimension involves how learners use their historical, cultural, and social understanding to interact and engage with people and groups.

Figure 1.2 Dimensions of learner agency (adapted from Vaughn, 2018)

Learner Agency: Our Definitions

If we distill the main concepts from the various definitions and frameworks that have been identified from the annals of progressive education literature, learner agency comes down to a learner’s attitude, motivation, and empowerment within a learning context.

Our definition of learner agency refers to the attitudes, motivations, and empowerment individuals have within a learning context as exhibited in the learner’s ability to select a learning environment, a content or subject area, a learning approach, and a learning pace.

• Learner choice is the process of turning over more decision-making to learners, so they develop a greater sense of ownership over the ways their interests, passions, backgrounds, and preferences blend together.
• Learner voice is learners involving themselves as active agents in the genesis, delivery, and enhancement of their learning journey.
• Learner engagement refers to the degree of interest, attention, curiosity, and passion that learners exhibit during the learning process.
• Learner motivation is the process during which the learners’ attention becomes focused on fulfilling their goals, during which their efforts are directed toward achieving their objective. These efforts are categorized into two types – intrinsic and extrinsic. The main goal is for learners to be intrinsically motivated to learn.
• Learner ownership is the level of investment and empowerment learners have in the topics they explore, the environment they choose, and the process they use during learning.
• Learner self-efficacy, according to Bandura (1997), is based on a learner’s belief in their ability and capacity to learn. It represents the ability for learners to exude control over one’s motivation.

Learner Agency: A Paradigm Shift

In this book, our goal is to support educators in their quest to transform the roles and responsibilities of learners in the instructional process. In a traditional model of school, learners are expected to be compliant, pliable, and obedient. The problem is that if this is the only way they experience learning, they will not be equipped for what lies ahead of them beyond their school experience as they move on into their careers and lives.

The goal of education and blueprint for learners should be for them to develop into self-directed, self-regulated, creative, independent, divergent thinkers and doers.

Although there are no perfect instructional manuals or teacher guides to help in this transition from a teacher-powered to a learner-empowered environment, this book will offer valuable opportunities and pathways to start the process.

Unlike many of the superficial workbooks or guides that follow the practice of ready, fire, aim (or ready, aim, backfire), this book begins by first laying a strong foundation. After all, if a house is built upon a weak or incomplete foundation, in due course the dwelling will almost inevitably falter, wash away, or collapse.

To establish a solid foundation, we will begin by examining the learning theorists and thought leaders who are influential in the research and practices of learner agency. Then, we will examine today’s generation of learners and consider why we affectionately call them the digital generations and the reasons why they require (and demand) more say and control of their learning.

We will then explore the external factors in the modern world that require today’s learners to develop tomorrow’s next-generation skills.

And finally, we will provide the juicy stuff – the instructional strategies, teaching ideas, and potential learning products that will encourage learners to explore their voice, choice, and ownership of learning to cultivate these vital skills. This succulent mega-section is lovingly referred to as the List. It is custom-created to provide a treasure trove of inspiration for educators that want to empower their learners to become independent thinkers, doers, and reflectors.

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