Learning at St Columba's
You may have heard or even used the buzzword agency or student agency. But what does it mean to have agency or provide students with agency in the classroom?
The International Baccalaureate (IB) summarises learner agency as:
- Students have a voice, choice and ownership of their learning.
- When students have agency, the relationship between the teacher and students becomes a partnership.
- Students with strong self-efficacy bring a stronger sense of agency to the learning community.
- The learning community supports agency and fosters self-efficacy.
Through our Units of Inquiry, Literacy, and Numeracy approaches, students are encouraged to have a voice, choice and ownership of their learning. Learning engagements are carefully planned to put the student first, allowing for choices that support all levels of learning.
Through low-floor, high-ceiling open learning tasks, students work with teachers to set goals and work in small collaborative groups or independently based on the needs and choices of the student and the learning at hand.
If you want to read more about learner agency, click the link below to read what the IB defines as learner agency.