What is Student Agency in English Language Development?

Our last post discussed Arizona's Language Development Approach and took a closer look at the four principles it is comprised of. The goal of those four principles when implemented correctly is to develop student agency.

Many people have never heard of student agency, but it is a well-known goal and strategy utilized in school systems. Student agency essentially refers to student choice and independence. When students have agency, that means that they play a more active, involved, and choice in their own education. An example of students having agency in their education would be allowing students to decide how they want to learn and utilizing students' background knowledge and experiences to create a more meaningful learning environment. Student agency relies on students to take initiative, self-regulate, and work cooperatively in order to be truly beneficial and student-led (Vaughn, 2020).

Now, what does student agency have to do with English learners? By fostering a classroom environment focused on developing student agency, you allow English learners to have a sense of control and ownership of their own education. In order to best describe the impact that student agency has on English learners, here is a quote from Margaret Vaughn in her article titled, What is student agency and why is it needed now more than ever? (Vaughn, 2020).

"Across these vignettes is the understanding that agency is socially constructed and a dynamic dimension of classroom learning that is continually reshaped with students and teachers. It is, “the strategic making and remaking of ourselves, identities, activities, relationships, cultural tools and resources, and histories, as embodied within relations of power,” (Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007, p. 18). Agency is structured with and alongside students and during experiences that allow for students to share their voice, histories, cultural identities, experiences, languages, and interests." (Vaughn, 2020).