Student agency and sustainability
Written By: Author(s): Malika Dahl
8 min read
Introduction
Agency, defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as ‘the ability to take action or to choose what action to take’ (n.d.) refers in an educational context to the ability to determine one's own learning goal and the process of pursuing that goal (Vaughn, 2018). Agency may be used in a moral, social, economic, or creative context, shaping our interactions with ourselves and others (OECD, 2019). Because agency offers us the ability to self-reflect, self-react, and have forethought to make an action happen (Taub et al., 2020), out-of-classroom environments in particular may create a setting for meaningful learning and interaction between students and teachers (Kangas et al., 2014). Furthermore, being allowed and having the courage to question what one has learned is an important part of agency development (Vaughn, 2018).
Student agency has particular relevance in the context of sustainability, a topic that children and young people are increasingly concerned about. I believe
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References
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- Corres A, Rieckmann M, Espasa A et al. (2020) Educator competences in Sustainability Education: A systematic review of frameworks. Sustainability 12(23): 9858.
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