“Unpacking” Agency in the School Project: Prospects for a Participatory Approach
https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.19.2.10
EDN: KDYMGG
Abstract
School has become more project-oriented. There is tremendous potential for student agency here. Children's agency can be revealed through a participatory approach to childhood sociology. The analysis model is based on the principles of participatory methodology and interpretive reproduction by Corsaro. Three groups of variables are identified: the subjectivity of the child, the balance of power between the child and the adult, and the joint creativity of the participants. The empirical basis of the study is the “Green School” case, implemented online with the participation of five schoolchildren and one teacher from the Khabarovsk Territory. Observation, interviews, focus groups, and text analysis were used for the monographic analysis of the “case”. In a space of “equal participation”, where students and a teacher are co-participants and coresearchers, children’s agency can be disclosed. Children maximally expresses themselves through free choice, gaining personal experience in the process of making decisions. Responsibility arises not as an “obligation”, but as a motivation for learning: “how can we do it to make it better”. The results of this work can be used by educators in organizing project-based research activities for students, utilizing sociological methods adapted to the study of children.
About the Authors
M. Khusnutdinova
Moscow State University of Psychology & Education
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Margarita Khusnutdinova
Moscow, Russia
A. Filipova
Vladivostok State University; Herzen University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Alexandra Filipova
Vladivostok, Russia; St. Petersburg, Russia
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Review
For citations:
Khusnutdinova M., Filipova A. “Unpacking” Agency in the School Project: Prospects for a Participatory Approach. Education and Self-Development. 2024;19(2):139-154. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.19.2.10. EDN: KDYMGG
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