Sense of agency refers to the feeling of control over actions and their consequences
For quite a while I did not know what my colleagues were talking about when they used the word agency. I could generally figure it out from context clues, but I still wondered what it meant exactly. Yesterday the Compass Classroom explorers experienced agency. I experienced a bit of uneasiness.
Clean up time in our classroom starts when the ding of a small steel drum peels across the classroom. Each student can then have a turn drumming and then we all start putting all our materials back into their homes. It is a good example of organized chaos.
After putting a few blocks away one boy sat down and decided he was not going to pick up anymore. Soon two, then three more students joined him. We
continued to clean and put away our materials while I newscasted and made statements of facts. When we are done playing, we clean up. Fletcher is using his strong muscles to put two blocks on the shelf. This Nothing convinced these students to help in getting our classroom back in order.
Before heading to snack, I called everyone to our meeting area on the rug. I told them what I noticed. I asked what they thought about some not helping with cleaning up. After a bit of discussion and explaining they all agreed it was OK if some cleaned and some did not. We talked about how it might take them longer if not everyone does their part. They all still agreed they were OK with it. I smiled and said OK. If they were OK with it I would learn to be OK with it too!
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