C14: The Road Between Agency and Action

by Lu Gerlach

Once you’ve navigated the terrain of Agency, it’s a smooth ride towards Action.  

As the teacher, you are no longer in the driver’s seat.  If anything, you are in the side car guiding the student as they navigate the winding road towards understanding. It’s a thrilling adventure, but you no longer have to be burdened to do all of the thinking and planning.  You can sit back and enjoy the journey for a change, because you have faith in your student’s ability to reach the final destination. 

The student is filled with so much confidence as they careen through unknown streets.  They are empowered by your prior tutelage, encouraging words, and guiding hand.  They may hit a bump in the road here and there, but overall their journey is relatively easy, because the course was well-mapped before ever leaving home. 

The people in the community are cheering from the sidelines as you pass by, because they’ve been down the road before.  They know the challenges of learning new ideas, making choices, and taking risks.  They are there to encourage and clear potential obstacles along the way. The community wants everyone to be successful, so they support the complete journey. 

This idyllic scene is how a learning community evolves when agency is at the forefront of the learning.  Each stakeholder knows the risks and consequences of letting the students take more ownership of the learning experience.  At the same time, they know the tremendous benefits of letting students chart their own path towards a shared destination. 

When you get to the place called Action, the entire community takes part in celebrating the  journey.  

Action is the physical manifestation of agency.  When students are agentic, their primary goal is to identify problems and generate possible solutions.  This cycle repeats until action becomes a disposition, a way of living and being. This is what it means to be an internationally-minded person. Thinking beyond one’s own journey, but how it impacts the greater world around them. 

Action has gone through it’s own journey over the years to redefine its purpose and support student development.  There is more depth and complexity in how we “take” action.  

Level 1

​When I began the PYP, I noticed that many students were encouraged to take action on their learning through simple actions, such as conserving electricity by turning the lights off when leaving the room.  These actions make a huge difference at a single point in time,but have short-term effects on student behavior and mindset.

Level 2

About five years ago, PYP educators wanted to deepen action by examining the various ways we can take action by changing our thinking, saying, doing, feeling, being, and knowing.  These actions allowed us to take a deeper look into identifying if the situation required action within (ourselves) and action beyond (to the greater community).  This changed how we looked at action and the validity of inaction in certain cases.  It allowed students to focus more on the intrinsic motivations for taking action, rather than, grandiose ideas to be shared with the community. ​

Action Within...

​focuses more on reflective practice and looking inward to see how our learning has changed our being.  We can do this by altering our thinking, feelings, knowing, and being. We may share this experience with one or two other people who have the same goal in mind.

Action Beyond...

​focuses on how to share ideas and possible solutions with the greater world through our saying or doing.  These actions are more blatant and can be showcased using a wide variety of paper and electronic forms.

Level 3

With the PYP enhancements in 2018, action has taken a completely different path.  We are now looking at action as a vehicle for responding to challenges in our world.  We are preparing students to look at the implications of their actions and how they impact others on a wider scale beyond our local community. Students are now able to identify if their actions support: Participation, Social Justice, Advocacy, Social Entrepreneurship, and Lifestyle Choices. ​

As we student’s take a pit stop in a place called Action, what will you share with them to prepare for the uphill climb through the various levels?  How will you connect these various types of actions, so they support and deepen agentic thinking?