No, we’re not talking about representing your student at the next big Hollywood casting! We’re talking about allowing for voice and choice in the classroom. Students who feel as though they have ownership and responsibility for their own learning have what’s known as agency.
What if we fashioned ourselves as master learners with students, instead of master teachers? What if we wrote a curriculum that allowed for student interpretation to drive the learning? Make things more interesting for them.
Students lead their own learning.
Shifting direction towards student agency means shifting control of learning from educator to student. We need to trust our youth to learn as we learn, setting aside the traditional ways of instruction that are no longer relevant to today’s pupils.
One example of such a shift is offering student-led conferences vs. traditional parent-teacher meetings. Students get to chose the work they feel is most important and relevant to their learning, and present that work to their parents.
The Power of Choice
Fostering student agency is a big challenge for educators as it requires lots of personalization and adaptability in class. We know success in learning is happens when we shift away from the traditional factory model approach to school to a more engaging, personalized approach for the learners. Instead of an assembly line pedagogy, think of an art gallery full of your students’ work. Each piece is unique and constructed using different mediums. Each one tells a different and important learning story. Isn’t that the real goal of learning?
Forward it to a friend or colleague.
In this digital time, controlling our online identities is becoming more crucial than ever.
Aimee Bio exists for this purpose. It gives youth a voice and helps them showcase who they truly are and who they want to be.
Their entire lives are online! By encouraging them to fill in their bios you are ultimately helping them prepare for their future and leave a great digital footprint.
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