The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of student agency when applied to learning across "The New Zealand Curriculum" (Ministry of Education, 2007). To explore agency the author presents and describes a range of teaching pedagogies that are based on principles of intrinsic motivation. The author describes, with examples,…

The potential for more egalitarian or democratic forms of engagements among people is accepted to be somehow actualised naturally within collaborative or cooperative forms of learning. There is an urgent need for a theoretical framework that does not limit social justice with access or participation, but focuses on the otherwise hidden ways in…

Background: Self-determination involves autonomy, agency, choice and control. This study investigated how these aspects of self-determination relate to engaging people with intellectual disability and complex support needs in setting goals and making plans. Method: Body mapping was used to understand the planning experiences of 30 adults with…

We tested the hypothesis of school satisfaction being an antecedent to social coping behaviors in early adolescents (N = 892) using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design. We also explored the possible bidirectional relations between school satisfaction and social coping behaviors. Four types of social coping behaviors in peer conflict contexts…

The philosopher Richard Rorty once remarked that the genre of philosophy writing is an extended conversation that can be traced to the dialogues of Plato. All the foundational questions of philosophy can be found in ancient philosophy texts. The subsequent history of philosophy is a dialectic progression on these questions. I argue that reading…

The present quantitative study investigated the relationship between willingness to communicate (WTC) and learner autonomy in an EFL context. In addition, it explored the probable effect of gender on the relationship between learner autonomy and WTC. Furthermore, it investigated whether WTC could predict learner autonomy. The data were collected…

When considering a school switch, it is imperative that the child be involved in the decision-making process. One study has shown that students who feel forced by their parents to attend a middle school magnet program instead of their assigned middle school showed greater dissatisfaction with school life than those who chose to attend the magnet…

Kindergarten teachers from different cultural backgrounds attribute various meanings to children's autonomy. There seems to be cultural differences in early childhood education curricula with regard to how a child's autonomy is described and how it is supported. This qualitative study asks: how do teachers narrate their perspective and pedagogical…

Agency has attracted considerable attention, especially of late. Nevertheless, perceptions of language learners as nonagentive persist. In this article the Douglas Fir Group's call for a transdisciplinary perspective is heeded in a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory's (CDST) conceptualization of agency. It is suggested that CDST maintains the…

International human rights standards are clear that children and young people have a right to sexuality education. Nevertheless, the delivery of such education is often considered questionable, particularly for groups of children perceived as more 'vulnerable'. In this article, the example of the right to access sexuality education for disabled…

Reading motivation has been identified as a significant factor that contributes to academic achievement. However, research has demonstrated that reading motivation declines as students progress through the elementary years. Exploring younger students' reading motivation is warranted as it can identify practices that foster and sustain intrinsic…

The ways in which individuals act within the world around them and the ways in which individuals engage with commodities as consumers play a vital role in providing insight into innate human values and opportunities for growth. By exploring the seemingly mundane and small but meaningful ways individuals engage in the consumer process and space,…

Previous studies have shown positive effects of self-assessment on L2 English learners' speaking performance, but it is unclear whether the same is true with peer assessment. Research is also scarce on the effects of such assessments on the learner's sense of autonomy. This study thus investigated the effects of self- and peer-assessment on L2…

The entry of students into middle school constitutes a life transition that involves adaptive challenges at the psychological, academic and social levels. The provision of autonomy support and avoidance of controlling tactics by parents can be effective resources to help the students through this transition. The purpose of the present study was…

While primary studies on technology-mediated informal foreign language (FL) learning are increasingly popular, research synthesis on self-directed FL learning in incidental, out-of-class contexts are scarce. Therefore, this article seeks to address this gap in the literature through a qualitative research synthesis (QRS) on language learning in…