National
Quality Standard | Information sheet
QUALITY
AREA 1
SUPPORTING
AGENCY: INVOLVING CHILDREN IN DECISION MAKING
The United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child states children have a right to be active participants in
all matters affecting their lives.
In the
approved learning frameworks, agency is defined as being able to make choices
and decisions to influence events and to have an impact on one’s world.
Supporting children’s agency is about recognising that children have a right to
make choices and decisions, and are capable of initiating their own learning.
LINKS TO THE NATIONAL QUALITY
FRAMEWORK
The
National Quality Standard (NQS) recgonises children as competent and capable.
Supporting children’s agency and involving them in decisions cuts across all
seven quality areas of the NQS, with a particular focus in:
Standard
1.1: An approved learning framework
informs the development of a curriculum that enhances each child’s learning and
development.
Element
1.1.6: Each child’s agency is promoted,
enabling them to make choices and decisions and influence events and their
world.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT
CHILDREN’S AGENCY
Intentional
teaching
When
educators are intentional, purposeful and plan for children’s learning, this
helps children to be active agents in sourcing their own learning. This can be
achieved by allowing children to make decisions about, plan for and help set up
their preferred method of learning. Children might decide how to research
information on dinosaurs for example, or what they would like to cook in a
cooking experience.
Genuine
decision making
Sharing the power that adults hold, and trusting that
children are competent decision makers can support children’s agency.
For
example, educators can:
arrange
activities, routines and the physical environment so that children have a range
of opportunities to make choices about what they will do and how they will do
it
provide children
with the opportunity to make choices in circumstances where their decisions
will be able to be accepted.
Supporting
agency involves educators taking a step back and critically reflecting on, “Do
I need to decide for children?”.
Instead,
consider ways of setting up environments, routines and learning experiences
that support children to make decisions and have agency independently of
adults. For example, asking children what they know about areas of interest and
what they would like to find out more about.
Think
about ways educators support children to make their own choices throughout the
day.
Quality Area 1 | Supporting agency:
Involving children in decision making
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