Manyukhina, Yana;
(2025)
Children's agency in England's primary schools: A case for structured freedom.
British Educational Research Journal
10.1002/berj.4182.
(In press).
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Abstract
This paper examines how children's agency operates within primary education in England through an in‐depth qualitative study of three contrasting schools over two years. While children's right to participate in decisions affecting their education is increasingly recognised internationally, its practical implementation within formal education systems remains challenging. Drawing on critical realism and extensive empirical evidence, including classroom observations, interviews with school leadership and teachers, and innovative participatory methods capturing children's own voices, this study reveals how different institutional approaches create varying opportunities for children's agency. Through analysing structural conditions, daily practices, and children's experiences across two academic years, the research demonstrates how agency emerges through complex interactions between educational structures and children's lived experiences. The findings reveal that supporting children's agency does not require choosing between agency and structure; rather, thoughtfully designed structures can enable meaningful participation while maintaining educational standards. The paper presents the concept of ‘structured freedom’—a practical framework for systematically supporting children's agency through four key principles: three‐domain integration, choice architecture, systematic mechanisms for agency, and experiential development. This study offers both theoretical insights into how children's agency operates within educational structures and practical guidance for schools navigating the tensions between enabling children's agency and meeting standardised requirements.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Children's agency in England's primary schools: A case for structured freedom |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1002/berj.4182 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4182 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2025 The Author(s). British Educational Research Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | children's agency, critical realism, primary education, structured freedom |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Learning and Leadership |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208173 |
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