Co-Agency

Embracing the reciprocal impact of student-teacher relationships

Last year, I transformed my modest Volkswagen minivan into a camper. Picture me, sawing boards on the little terrace of my city apartment, assembling scattered pieces amidst the living room chaos. Up and down five flights of stairs, testing, modifying, fitting—until it was finally ready for my road trip across Europe. From sleeping at the base of Mont Blanc to sipping wine beside the crystal clear waters of the Soča River, I spent the summer in my van. Living a dream that, not long ago, I would have never thought possible.

Turning my apartment into a work site

It’s still a surprise to me that just a few years back I didn’t know how to swing a hammer, let alone install a hinge or construct a 90 degree dowel joint. Yet, here I am typing this article about my DIY van conversion. I can say with certainty that the reason I was able to take on such a challenge was because a group of Grade 3 students, now young adults, at Lincoln Community School in Accra, Ghana, unwittingly instilled in me my own sense of agency.

What is Agency?

It was the year 2016, my twelfth year as an educator. Student voice and choice had already become integral parts of my pedagogy, but I was eager to take it a step further. The book "Maker-Centered Learning" by Harvard School of Education's Agency by Design. provided my first encounter with the term “agency” as educational parlance.  Agency by Design defined their mission as helping "young people and adults feel empowered to build and shape their worlds." They told stories of children who had developed a keen inclination to observe their surroundings closely, understand complex systems, and seize opportunities to take meaningful action, both big and small. In essence, they articulated what I had always envisioned for my students and my classroom.

So, in collaboration with a brilliant and determined team of educators, I set out to create a learning environment that honored student agency. We began by identifying areas in our schedule that could afford to be less rigid, allowing students more autonomy in managing their time for various tasks or goals. We introduced what we called "flexible transitions," and immediately witnessed a surge in student productivity and motivation. It was a simple change that proved far less daunting to implement than we initially anticipated. And from there, the momentum only grew.

We made a commitment to grant students agency in making decisions about what, where, and with whom they learned. We taught students how to initiate mentor relationships and helped them reach out to community resources with expertise in the topics or issues they cared about. We carved out time to closely observe their environment and equipped them with strategies to analyze its complexity. In this modified context, there seemed to be no end to opportunities for them to exercise agency.

For instance, a persistent water leak from an air conditioning unit that had plagued my classroom for years became the catalyst for innovation. With guidance from a local engineer, students designed a bamboo contraption to capture and redirect the water to indoor plants, effectively eliminating the distracting drips that had marred our wall displays.

Similarly, one student's concern for children selling sweets at busy intersections in Accra led to a collaboration with a United Nations-supported non-profit combating child trafficking. Together, we sat alongside formerly trafficked children, creating artwork that was later sold to support the rescue and rehabilitation of more children.

This, then, is agency: the ability to recognize opportunities for action and the inclination to seize them. It requires understanding that you possess the capacity to solve the problems before you and, when necessary, acquire the skills and knowledge needed to do so.

By removing the constraints typically imposed on learning, it was as if we unshackled these students. They believed in their potential, and they wasted no time in actualizing it!

Their agency propelled our learning far beyond my initial expectations. They showed me that we have the power to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of our goals. For me, personally, agency was a revelation—an acknowledgment that most of the limits we face are the ones we impose upon ourselves.

When I started this work, I believed that fostering a learning environment grounded in agency would empower students to effect positive change in our world someday. What I didn't anticipate, however, was just how tangible and immediate the impact of their agency would be...or how profoundly it would change me.

What is Co-Agency?

We all possess agency, but we each wield it in our unique ways. When our orbits intersect, our individual agencies inevitably bump against one another. When I exercised my agency to tweak our classroom routines, my students responded with manifestations of their own agency, sparking new insights and actions within me. This dynamic interplay embodies co-agency: an acknowledgment and embrace of the reciprocal impact our actions have on one another.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has positioned co-agency as a pivotal concept in their Future of Education and Skills 2030 initiative. They define co-agency as the recognition that learning "represents shared projects and goals between youth, parents, peers, and teachers." Moreover, they articulate that "this does not only mean that parents, teachers, and peers influence students' agency, but also that students influence parents, teachers, and peers: agency is bounded."

For me, as an educator, this concept has been nothing short of a revelation. It reframes the interactions between teacher and student in a manner that more accurately mirrors reality than my previous conceptions.

For years, I had seen myself as responding to my students. Now, through the lens of co-agency, I realize that I respond because of my students. Though the change in semantics may seem subtle, its implications are profound. As you begin to respond because of your students, they will perceive the shift—a tangible recognition of the power and potential they possess.

The difference is palpable for both parties. When rooted in co-agency, your choices and actions in the classroom will carry a renewed sense of responsibility, and also a deeper appreciation. Understanding that the delicate dance unfolding between us is shaping all of us into better, more nuanced, and intentional versions of ourselves is a truly beautiful realization.

There are a few immediate steps educators can take to honor co-agency in our classroom. We can be more intentional about the ways that we observe and listen to learners. We can be more open to the subtle messages that children offer us regarding how they wish to learn or what they wish to learn about. We can make the connection between their choices and our choices more visible and concrete, raising their awareness of the interplay occurring between us.

Shaping Our World

I think it's time for a tour of my little van. You’ll immediately notice that it isn’t the work of a master craftsperson, but you’ll be impressed with the functionality of the components I’ve built; how the headboard doubles as a bench that fits nicely beside the flip-down tailgate that hides the drawers; how the drawers pull out and stack upon one another to form a counter where I set up the stove to fry my morning eggs. But above all, you’ll see how proud I am to have turned this van into the exact thing I need it to be.

Just before bedtime in Kobarid, Slovenia.

In the end, that’s what agency is, enacting your power to make this world into what you want it to be. Seeing my students embrace their agency gave me the courage and confidence to do things I’d previously considered beyond my scope.

And co-agency, it’s something even more powerful: the recognition of the many forces at play directing and shaping our lives; an understanding of our responsibility to shape and be shaped with intention.

As you work to foster agency in your classroom, remember this: the choices you make, the actions you take—they have the power to shape your students' lives, and in return, your own. Embrace the reciprocity of co-agency, and watch as your classroom transforms into a dynamic space where both teacher and student are empowered to reach their full potential.

If you're interested in expanding your understanding of agency and co-agency, register for our virtual workshop on March 9 at 11:00 CET to explore the connection between student and teacher agency, learn routines that nurture student agency, and discover the power of co-agency to transform your understanding of learning.