ABSTRACT
The spark of agency is simply the perception that the environment is responsive to actions, and many researchers argue that agency is a fundamental human desire. Some teachers are very good at building a sense of agency in children, and in this chapter the author describe how they do it. To understand children's development of a sense of agency, then, the people need to look at the kinds of stories they arrange for children to tell themselves. Teaching children strategies results in them knowing strategies, but not necessarily in their acting strategically and having a sense of agency. Boys learn to tell stories in which they claim agency for their academic successes but not their failures, whereas girls tend to tell stories with the opposite attributions. Developing in children a sense of agency is not an educational frill or some mushy-headed liberal idea. Both independence and belonging are documented contributors to children’s classroom engagement.
