I held student focus groups last week to determine whether students could identify the decisions and choices they make as a student. I asked them to talk about what they know about themselves as a learner and what tools or strategies they use to make progress. I asked them about whether they voice opinions in the classroom, what they wished their teacher knew about them, and what agency means to them. I will be transcribing the recordings this week to compile the results.
For the last several weeks, the teachers and I have been reading articles, collaborating together, and sharing our thinking about how to promote agency in their students. We’ve used several sources including Zaretta Hammond’s work as it relates to developing independent learners. We’ve looked at some of our past work with authors and with the IB to put together some agreements about naming and noticing for the students when they demonstrate agentive behaviors or language.
I put together a page of reminders (see below) that we agreed on to try to be purposeful over the next two weeks in promoting agency:
At the end of the two week cycle, I will talk to the focus group of students again to see what if anything changes based on our work.
Then, after spring break, I will begin the cycle again, with the teachers making adjustments or adding additional moves based on the responses we get from the students.