Agency
Confidence // Motivation // Intention
In “Towards a Critical ASD Pedagogy of Insight,” Shannon Walters performed a case study with two undergraduate students who self-identify with Asperger’s Syndrome, “Jen” and “Jon,” as they take a writing course.
Jon disliked revising and writing multiple drafts, and did not engage in prewriting. He also felt that the main obstacle was writing about things he had no interest in, and that switching between different topics made it even harder to sustain interest. He would have preferred concentrating on a single topic of his choice. On the other hand, Jon wrote a 100-page historical fiction project based on the local history of his county. He researched local records, surveyed historical sites, and visited the library, as well as talking to members of the local historical society.
Jen felt that time constraints in class were her biggest problem, since sometimes inspiration “doesn’t come on command for classes.” Despite a passion for writing blog posts, fanfiction, in her journal, and several hundred pages of a novel outside of the class, she earned a C in the remedial English course. A large part of this was the perceived lack of value of her preferred writing topics – writing fan fiction based on anime and sci-fi or extensive lists were not seen as socially or academically acceptable.
When teaching English to learners on the autism spectrum, I have seen similar trends. One of my previous students loved to write fan-fiction combining multiple fictional worlds and characters. Another had a cast of imaginary characters and enjoyed writing emails or messages while pretending to be someone else. By using their specific interests to keep them motivated and interested, I was able to teach them about grammar, formatting, character development, and other writing and literacy skills.
I had far more success by giving my students choices than by trying to convince them to complete a grammar worksheet.
– Barb Rentenbach, et al, “Valuing Differences: Neurodiversity in the Classroom”
Let's Define Agency!
Agency is:
- When learners are self-motivated
- When learners are allowed and encouraged to make their own choices about their educational experience
- When learners feel confident in their capabilities
- When learners advocate for themselves and their needs
Agency is not:
- When learners don’t care about the learning process
- When learners aren’t provided with any choices
- When learners are worried about being right or wrong
- When learners aren’t given opportunities to advocate for themselves
Why is agency important?
To start, giving learners agency is one of the best ways to increase engagement. When learners are given more space to connect what they are learning to their own lives and interests, they become more invested in the learning process. This makes it easier for them to retain what they learned, apply it to their lives, and generalize skills to other contexts outside of the classroom.
Also, I believe one of the most important skills in life is to learn what works for you and what doesn’t, clearly communicate your needs and preferences to others, and then find workable compromises as necessary. Essentially, the skills to advocate for yourself. This is relevant in every part of life: academics, relationships, and the workplace. Allowing and encouraging learners to speak up about the problems they encounter and collaborating with them to find a solution can help improve everyone’s learning experience.
My approach to providing agency
Present information in a variety of ways (e.g. audio, visual, kinesthetic, etc). This makes it easier for students with different strengths and needs to engage with what they’re learning!
Make the learning experience enjoyable. This will look super different depending on the audience and the product, and can include design elements, games, and/or humor. (The visual elements of this website are an example of this – the images of plants and nature don’t add meaning, but they make the website more appealing to look at!)
Use storytelling. Good stories are entertaining and can help students care and relate to what they’re learning on a human level.
Provide context. If a student knows why they are learning something and how they might apply what they learn in the future, that can help them see the value in what they’re learning.
Encourage students to discover and follow their interests. Not all students will be equally interested in any particular topic. If they can connect what they’re learning to their pre-existing special interests, it can help them develop their own unique point of view, provide context, and encourage making connections across different disciplines.
As an instructional designer, how can I provide agency?
Provide different pathways and methods of engagement throughout the learning experience. Giving learners more choices will make them feel like they are in control of their own experience and allow them to identify what works best for them. For example:
Provide options for pacing and depth. Some learners already know a lot and will want the short, bullet-point version and others prefer to have a lot of context
Providing different ways of interacting with the information. Some learners will enjoy a game, and some would rather turn that feature off; some learners love a serif font (me), and some need to switch to a sans-serif font.
Work with learners to improve the learning experience. By encouraging and incorporating honest feedback both during the design process and after the learning experience is launched, I can improve the learning experience for everyone (including myself).
Encourage learners to connect what they are learning to their lives and special interests. When possible, I hope to start by working with learners to build the experience based on what is most relevant and interesting to them. Otherwise, providing opportunities for learners to explore different ideas and apply what they’ve learned can help make what they’re learning feel more meaningful and relevant.