engleski

Children's agency in early childhood education

This paper critically considers conceptualizations of children’s agency in contemporary childhood studies, policies and practices of childhood, exemplified by early childhood education. Within studies of childhood as a social construction the key notions are “agency”, “social actor and agent”, and “participation”. Agency as an ability and function of child’s activity – child as a social participant, actor, active participant in different relations in life contexts. In other words, as children’s autonomy/independence and competency, from the possibility of choice and participation to reflection/insight and self-insight. The focus is on viewing children as active beings, who are, like adults, in changing positions of being and becoming in present and future sociocultural realities, settings – structural factors of the social environment. In critical rethinking of agency in relation to the structure of social systems, there is a problem of the reproductive and transformational function of children’s agency in existing conditions of structuring, the dominating perspective of adults and a problem of implementation of children’s agency in social policy and practices of childhood. Contemporary early childhood education policies also mark discussions about children’s agency. On the one hand, there are discussions and practices from the perspective of the so called “preschool tradition”, i.e. “school readiness”, and on the other, there are discussions and practices from the perspective of the “socio-pedagogical tradition”. In contemporary childhood studies and policies, agency is interpreted as children’s ability for autonomous action in their own life and life of their environment. However, the question that remains is whether agency is a component of the human nature or is it assigned as “something” that is needed for the realization of adults’ intentions – those who “care for”, advocate children’s “well-being”. Different forms of regulation (from protection to guidance) in policies and practices of childhood contradict agency. Agency is assigned to children to reasonably justify current policies of childhood and practice of “social optimisation”. If the political nature of agency is dominant in the context of children’s rights and well-being policies, than the advocated practices are those in which children are assigned agency, which they need to learn “the right way” – through given patterns expressed with prescriptive effects. Agency, as a generic attribute of humans i.e. children in the sense of autonomous choice and behaviour – interaction with others with different motives. Active interaction between children and adults and children amongst themselves is focused on purposeful (intentional) changes – acquisition, transformation and development. From the perspective of sociocultural theory of childhood and development, the acceptable conceptualization of children’s agency is the one in which children’s agency is an attribute of children’s activity, which is in reciprocal relation with adults’ activity. Adults as bearers of culture through interaction with children mediate the symbolic and material culture of society. Asymmetric relations in the social positioning of adults and children can be developmental and/or restrictive: sharing, exchanging and constructing meanings and/or “teaching”, guiding, regulating to accomplish socially adequate behaviours and achievements.

agency; social actor and agent; participation; early childhood education; sociocultural theory

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