Student Agency in Early Childhood Education

Student agency in early childhood education refers to young children’s capacity to act intentionally, make decisions and influence their own learning experiences. Grounded in sociocultural theory, agency emerges through interactions with teachers, peers and learning materials within diverse settings. It encompasses children’s ability to set goals, ask questions, negotiate meaning and take responsibility for tasks that they value. Research has highlighted how agency supports cognitive, social and emotional development by fostering motivation, self-regulation and a sense of ownership over learning. Practically, nurturing agency involves creating environments that offer choice, invite inquiry and respond to children’s interests, whether through play, storytelling or collaborative projects. Globally, educators have applied these principles to promote democratic participation, digital literacy and resilience, adapting strategies to cultural and curricular contexts. By recognising children as active contributors rather than passive recipients, early years practitioners can design pedagogies that empower children, build confidence and lay the foundations for lifelong learning.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Student Agency in Early Childhood Education publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in student agency in early childhood education across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Student agency: The capacity of children to act intentionally, make choices and influence their own learning processes.

Sociocultural theory: A framework positing that learning and development occur through social interaction, cultural tools and shared activities.

Dialogic stance: An instructional approach in which the adult and child co-construct knowledge through open dialogue, questions and attentive listening.

Visual narrative inquiry: A research method that engages participants in creating visual stories or photo-narratives to reveal their experiences and perspectives.

References

1. « Yeah, I am making new stuff! »: responsivity to and negotiations of agency during digital storytelling in preschool. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (2024).
2. Taking a dialogic stance in interaction with the youngest children – Supporting concept learning and child agency. Learning Culture and Social Interaction (2024).
3. A visual narrative inquiry into children’s sense of agency in preschool and first grade. International Journal of Educational Psychology (2014).