Children’s Agency-for-Learning in and Through Play Over Time in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

Agency, the capacity to act on one’s own, is an important aspect of children’s lives. A wide array of empirical studies has focused on children’s agency in the co-construction of their lives. Since the early years lay a foundation for lifetime learning, understanding how children act as agents to make sense of themselves and the world is significant. This research explores children’s agency-for-learning through play and teachers’ roles in supporting such agency. Underpinned by the reciprocity between agency, play, and learning, the term agency-for-learning represents children’s capacity to create sustained change in their understanding of themselves and the world over time, in and through series of play experiences. This interpretive qualitative study draws on ethnographic methods guided by sociocultural perspectives. The study was conducted with children, teachers, and parents in a kindergarten and an education and care centre in Aotearoa New Zealand. Data were generated through observations over 10 weeks, using video recordings, photographs, and field notes. I informally conversed with children at the two centres about their play experiences. Teachers and parents were interviewed regarding their roles in supporting play and agency. Curriculum and policy documents and learning stories (i.e., narratives of children’s learning) were collected from both centres. Data analysis was guided by reflexive thematic and inductive analysis, which included three steps: familiarising myself with data, coding, and generating themes. The study found that children expressed agency-for-learning by exploring, negotiating relationships with others, and taking responsibility for their and others’ actions. Similar expressions were found in individual and collective agency-for-learning. A series of play experiences provided the context for agency-for-learning, with children intertwining these expressions in and across play episodes over time. Teachers supported these expressions by providing physical environments, stimulating independent thinking, co-playing, and documenting learning, thereby helping children continue to play over time. The findings offer fresh perspectives on the evolution of young children’s agency-for-learning through a series of play experiences over time. This study provides insights for teachers and can inform future research related to observing and analysing children’s agency in learning in and across play experiences.