Your Fostering Student Agency Comment ... 

Note: This page is also used in a different, related PD.

Share your perspective on the importance of presenting mathematics in ways that foster student agency ...

Some past comments ... 

Alaeze Ugoala
The concept of mathematical agency is one I am curious to delve into more as this course continues. While I agree that students benefit from higher levels of engagement when they feel an ownership of their learning, this system of learning I feel risks misconceptions in core skills. As a trainee teacher my biggest challenge was always medium and long-term planning. Structuring a sequence of lessons was difficult, because it was hard to identify where and when problems would occur. As I have developed as a teacher, I have grown more adept at identifying potential pitfalls, but they are not always clear to students. I have seen excellent lessons in Humanities and language subjects where students are allowed a wide degree of independence and agency, but Maths is slightly different in its structure because it builds on prior learning in quite a defined way. For example, certain techniques which might be effective at one level of algebraic development can prove catastrophic if carried on to more complex questions.
Richard​
Great post Alaeze and I thank you for your honesty. Your concerns are understandable. All I can advise is to 'stay the journey'. In a decade of running PDs on this theme and having many teachers with similar concerns, I've never had someone not lose their concerns by the end.

David Slade
I consider student agency to be a fantastic idea but, for a teacher, it can be a somewhat scary idea. I hate to generalise but, teachers like control and it is often hard to let go. I've experienced this with units in subjects other than maths, where the teacher tries to increase student agency by asking the students what they would like to find out, but then proceeds to teach what's on the curriculum, purely through fear of not ticking off those objectives. Looking at the different classroom scenarios, I feel that mine would be 'close enough is good enough.' However, I could see a couple of elements in others as well. Generally, I look to build a rapport with my students and I see the benefits of that. However, I often feel that my good rapport and general enthusiasm during lessons is a bit of a cover for some of my other defects as a teacher! Teachers who are mindful of their areas for development are always like to progress. In my early career, I got to a point where I thought I knew everything, and, at that point, I obviously stopped progressing (and my passion for teaching died a little!). When my boss polite reminded me that I didn't know everything, I took that on board, began reading again and started enjoying teaching again. I am always thankful for that difficult chat - although I think he fooled me with a fake Dunning-Kruger Graph!
Richard​
David, apologies for missing your post 20+ days ago. Great post. Re your first comment and 'but then proceeds to teach what's on the curriculum, purely through fear of not ticking off those objectives' ... my point is you can increase agency AND focus on the curriculum. It is tragic the curriculum is so full of content but it is what it is. Agency can nevertheless be encouraged (and it doesn't have to be completely open-ended). Re your other comments, your honesty is refreshing.

Joseph Bailie
I like the idea of student agency, to give them a 'stake' in the classroom and encourage independence as well as motivation. Admittedly, from the 6 Typical Classrooms, I'd say I identify as 'Close enough is good enough' but I am aware of my shortcomings in this scenario. I think part of 'path to success' is the role I play and looking forward to challenging my classroom scenario.
Richard​
Great to hear Joseph (and great to see you managed to log in!) Yes, shifting from 'close enough' to 'is this the best I can do' is a challenge but a worthy pursuit! Enjoy!

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More past comments ... 

Jared Skeens
Fostering Student Agency: For me, this has always been a theory vs practice struggle. I don't think anyone would argue against students being responsible over their own learning. However, one must ask, why is the traditional lecture - demonstrate procedure - practice similar problems approach still the default teaching method? I am not defending it, but it has had success from a time efficiency point of view, which is extremely tempting for those of us who teach a syllabus that is being externally tested in a set period of time. There is a fear, albeit a debatable one, that engaging students will spend (not waste) too much time, such that the syllabus cannot be covered by the deadline. Take something as simple as having a student write a problem on the board . . . they write too small, too sloppy, skip steps, etc etc to the point you wonder if it was beneficial to any other student in the class except for that student. Then, you have to go over the student's board work and teach to the discrepancies observed, some of which may not even be related to the actual concept you intended to address. OR, you take your class outside for a project on quadratics. You have them toss a tennis ball into the air, take time measurements, draw graphs, provide handouts that take them step by step through the activity and yes, their conceptual understanding and engaged interest improves; but on the assessment at the end of the unit, many still struggle in handling quadratic equations. You wonder, was the extra time spent worth it if the assessment objective was still not achieved. These are only 2 examples, and maybe a bit stretched, but to make a very real point that 'time', for better or for worse, often drives educational practice. Just being honest. Having said that, I love the philosophy of conceptual understanding and student agency, and I do try to implement them in my classroom. I still have much to learn and am excited to continue through this course in hopes of bringing more of that into practice for my student's learning environment.​
Richard​
HOW do you foster agency/engagement/understanding and NOT waste time? (I'll see if Anja can comment on this as well) Thanks so much for articulating this so clearly because this is MOST teachers initial response. And it is clear you are not being negative, rather simply stating the obvious from where you currently stand. I won't respond point by point but I will state this. 1) The reason most math teachers teach the way they teach is because it is the ONLY time-efficient way they know how. 2) I have experienced every permutation of your time-wasted examples as I was trying to implement these more student-centric strategies. All I'll say is this ... and it might sound like a cop-out, but it isn't. What we are advocating here are some fundamental tweaks to the standard approach. So we are not going to PBL (although I think PBL is great, but its a huge shift) ... we won't be doing 80% practical lessons ... we won't be throwing out everything we know and starting a fresh. The Understanding-1st, Procedures-2nd approach (soon to be explained in depth) is time efficient (in my experience, moreso than the traditional) AND gives students a greater sense of control AND gives the teacher more insight AND allows for ample explicit instruction. HOW? Well, you'll need to stay tuned ... lots more coming. And I'll e grilling you in a few months time to see if you agree with us or not.

Zitong Zhang
Last week I had a very proud moment in my class. After a student confirmed his answer and showed me with a proud smile. I told him not to tell the others the answer, they needed to figure out themselves. He picked up the questioning technique that I often use in class. He was applying the probing question techniques when helping the other pupils. Instead of teaching his peers explicitly, he was able to lead them questioning their own working and reflect on the mistakes. Based on his historical grade in maths, he is considered to be one of the weak pupils. However, watching him so professionally leading a group discussion, I am sure he has gained a sense of achievement in that lesson, and it is such an important factor that boost pupil's intrinsic interests in learning. Not only it benefits him, but it also help creatingLast week I had a very proud moment in my class. After a student confirmed his answer and showed me with a proud smile. I told him not to tell the others the answer, they needed to figure out themselves. He picked up the questioning technique that I often use in class. He was applying the probing question techniques when helping the other pupils. Instead of teaching his peers explicitly, he was able to lead them questioning their own working and reflect on the mistakes. Based on his historical grade in maths, he is considered to be one of the weak pupils. However, watching him so professionally leading a group discussion, I am sure he has gained a sense of achievement in that lesson, and it is such an important factor that boost pupil's intrinsic interests in learning. Not only it benefits him, but it also help creating a supportive, positive and open learning environment. I always encourage student teaching in my classes. As I introduce myself to all my pupils at their very first lesson with me: I am only a learning facilitator. Well, so are they! Facilitating each other's learning automatically creates a student-centred agency.
Richard​
Zitong, this is fantastic to hear. Seeing your teaching modelled by a student, especially not a 'top' student, must be wonderful. Well done!