Children’s Agency in the Modern Primary Classroom

Abstract

This paper examines where and how children achieve agency in the primary classroom, drawing on a multimodal ethnography of the Year One classroom. It utilises a relational conceptualisation of agency, where children act purposively to achieve outcomes of educational relevance. It demonstrates that children achieve agency performing ‘good’ and ‘clever’ child subject positions, helping to make classroom life more liveable, although this form of agency is limited when dealing with unexpected challenges. Children also deviate, finding moments to pursue desires and ways of knowing not provided for within the classroom, insinuating a political critique of the current education system.