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2-129 - Role of Agency in the Social and Academic Development of Young Children: A Cultural Perspective

Fri, April 7, 12:15 to 1:45pm, Austin Convention Center, Meeting Room 17A

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

This session examines the role of agency in how young children develop as learners. Agency is conceptualized as the ability to influence and make decisions about how and what is learned so as to expand capabilities. Agency in the context of learning means influencing learning so that capabilities expand and children can do more and more on behalf of themselves as well as their families, communities and countries (Adair, 2014). Agency has cultural ramifications because ideas about what young children should be doing and how much they should influence the learning process is cultural (Rogoff, 2014; Suizzo et al, 2012).

This session aims to discuss agency as 1) an element of learning that often shapes the kinds of learning experiences young children can and do have in their early years and 2) a culturally-influenced element that requires a comparative approach so that agency is not just seen as simply self-regulation, resistance, responsibility or participation but rather as a means towards expanding a range of possible capabilities. Agency in this sense includes individual and collective agentic behaviors – those that serve the individual and those that serve the collective group (Cosaro, 2011). All three papers in this session make a connection between agency and development that accounts for cultural differences, focusing specifically on Latina/o immigrant communities in the U.S., Maori and Pacific Islander communities in New Zealand and Aboriginal Australian Communities.

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