ALL (Accelerating Literacy

Learning)

Developing Student Agency

and Self Regulation
Nadine Sorrensen
University of Auckland

What is Student Agency?

Why would we want to
develop
agency in our students?

Derek Wenmoth
Director of e-Learning at CORE Education

One way of thinking of learner agency is

when learners have the power to act.
Agency is when learning involves the activity
and the initiative of the learner, more than
inputs that are transmitted to the learner from
the teacher, from the curriculum, the
resources and so forth. When learners move
from being passive recipients to being much
more active in the learning process, and
actively involved in the decisions about the
learning, then they have greater agency.
http://www.core.ed.org/thought-leadership/ten-trends

 Importance of students being active participants in their

learning
Students knowing:
WHAT they need to learn
HOW to do the learning
WHY they are learning the skill or strategy
Remember

These traits and dispositions need to be taught explicitly

Checking that the student can articulate the learning and the
purpose of the learning
Has the student been scaffolded to talk about what they can do
and what their goals / next steps for learning are?
You will also need to track and monitor the learning
Can the student transfer the learning to other contexts?

 Where are your students currently operating, and where they are
heading?
Expectations, rates of progress and acceleration
Literacy Learning Progressions Gap Analysis
National Standards Illustrations
Students monitor their own progress, talk
about where they are and where to next?

How do they know?

What is the evidence?

 How will you support your students to set goals?

Where will the goals be written / displayed?
How will you monitor the progress students are making
towards their goals ?
How often will the goals be reviewed / new goals set?

Key components of
Student Agency and Student Self Regulation
Academic self-efficacy: I BELIEVE that I can achieve!
Behavioural self-control
Academic self-determination: developing persistence,
motivation to learn ..
Teacher-student relationships
Developing a culture of learning
Effective peer relations - ako, supportive ...
Effective home-school relationships
What is the role of the teacher?
What do we need to scaffold, and how do we
encourage the students to develop student agency?

Where the Student

is AT
What is the student
able to do?
(Level of the Literacy
Learning Progressions)

Where the Student

NEEDS TO BE
(Level of the Literacy
Learning Progressions)

Student Shift

Actions for Teachers

What NEW
LEARNING do my
students need?

What NEW
LEARNING do I
need?

NOTE: Acceleration vs Remediation (Refer to Learning in the Fast Lane Chapter One)

Gradual Release of Responsibility

(Optimal Learning Model)
Visual Scaffolding

Gradual Release of Responsibility Model

TEACHER responsibility
Focus Lesson /
Teacher Modelling
.

I do it
We do it

Guided Instruction
..

...
Collaborative
learning
.
Independent

You do it
together

Student Responsibility

You do it alone

Source:

Effective Use of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model

Dr Douglas Fisher, Professor of Language and Literacy Education San Diego State University

What is scaffolding?
Scaffolding is an instructional technique used to move students progressively
toward stronger understanding and greater independence in the learning
process. Scaffolding is a temporary support that assists students to reach
higher levels of comprehension and skill acquisition that they would not be
able to achieve without assistance.

What is visual scaffolding?

Visual scaffolds are diagrams or images that are used with learners to
represent a skill or strategy to prompt or remind them about what to do within
their learning
Visual scaffolds are particularly useful to support early learners or ESOL
learners that may have a limited visual word vocabulary (limited words they
can read)

1. Support student learning

Visually representing the success criteria for the learning
Sentence frames / sentence prompts with images
Planning templates with images

2. Develop student agency

Having a visual scaffold assists the learner to talk about WHAT they
are learning, and HOW to achieve the learning (the actions, skill or
strategy)
Visual scaffolds assist learners to identify where they have been
successful in their learning or to identify areas of their learning that
they find challenging or need additional support / assistance

Writing: Think about, Record (Encoding), Communicate ideas and Information

Reading: Reading (Decoding), Making Meaning, Thinking Critically

 Articulate their learning

Describe the success criteria in their own words
Sentence frames
Sentence starters
Teaching how to ask questions
How to answer questions
Asking questions of the text
Asking questions of others to articulate their thinking /
point of view

Opportunities to gather student voice:

At the start of the lesson
Tell me what you are learning today and why
During the lesson
Describe the success criteria and the strategies that they are using
to demonstrate their learning
Show me in your reading or writing when you are using the skill /
you are able to demonstrate your learning
After the lesson
o How did you go with your learning?
o How do you know?
o What are you able to do?
o What did you find tricky / challenging?
o What do you need to practice?
o What are your next learning steps?

 What is a model text?

When should I use a model text?
What are some strategies that I can
use to incorporate a model text into my
teaching to support the learning of
reading and writing

(Starting with the Model / Mentor Text)

Starting with the Learning Intention and Success Criteria