There’s a quiet revolution happening in classrooms around the country – and it’s not driven by the latest technology or flashy new tools. The real disruptors in education today are students themselves – young people with agency – and the teachers and school leaders who empower them. Through carefully designed pedagogy, scaffolded instruction and exploratory learning, students are being given the tools to take charge of their own education.
But what exactly is student agency?
Student agency is a powerful concept. It refers to a student’s ability to make choices and decisions that directly influence their learning, wellbeing and overall school experience. Rather than simply receiving information, students with agency take an active role in shaping and co-designing their own educational journeys. It’s about giving them voice, choice and ownership in the classroom and beyond the borders of our school.
At The Knox School, we take student agency seriously.
To deepen our understanding and application of this concept, we welcomed educational expert Summer Howarth to our campus on Monday 28 April 2025. Summer worked closely with a selected group of students from Years 6 to 10 to explore what we’re calling the Anatomy of Agency. Together, they investigated key questions: What is agency? How do we recognise it? And most importantly, how do we put it into practice?
The result of this dynamic workshop was the co-creation of a practical toolkit that teachers will be able to apply in the classroom – a set of strategies and resources to help students reflect on and apply agency in their learning and broader school experience. This toolkit will serve as a foundation for continuing our work in empowering students to become active participants in their education and enact positive change.
When asked about what agency in learning might be or look like, our students said this:
- “Connected to leadership, diversity, understanding, communication, accountability and growth”
- “Understanding activities and taking a leadership role willingly”
- “Community and diversity”
- “Taking action, accountability, actively trying to grow by asking questions and engagement. Adaptability and resilience”
- “Having responsibility for our learning. Having an understanding of what you want so that you can share it with others”
- “A team leader”
- “Working and coming up with solutions. Inclusion. How to improve ways of learning”
- “Different between people”
- “Role, responsibility, efficiently, take charge, discovery”
And when asked about what good learning might be or look like at The Knox School, our students said this:
- “Is when the students are discussing the topics and enjoy what they are doing, they have more motivation to do well”
- “Is engagement from students and looks like questions and answers, practical applications, creative tasks, collaboration and choice”
- “Looks like good eye contact, putting words it into action. Sounds like askings questions, passionate discussions and debates. Feels like engagements, understanding what you are learning”
- “Feels like enjoying what you do and having opinions”
- “Sounds like discussion in a classroom, looks like concentration on faces. Feels like success and choice”
- “Is everyone contributing and asking questions”
- “Is understanding and having confidence in what is being taught”
Perhaps it’s time to shift the conversation. Instead of asking how we can prepare students for the future, we should ask how our systems can evolve to step aside – so that when students are ready, they can lead as well as co-design. By trusting our learners and positioning them as partners in implementation, evaluation and improvement, can we foster a generation that’s not just prepared for the future but also actively shaping it?
