Learner Agency is a term educators are hearing more and more about. It appears in educational policy documents around the world, and school leaders are being told the importance of creating environments that promote “Learner Agency”.

But what really is Learner Agency and how do schools develop it in students? In this insightful whitepaper, I explore the concept of Learner Agency, dispel many of the common misconceptions, explain why you can’t “give” students agency, I then offer a practical model for schools to meaningfully move forward with this important concept.