Explaining the child agency status in Fundamental Transformation Document of Education

Kiyani, Masume; Hashemi, Seydeh Chenoor

doi:10.22055/edus.2025.46442.3578

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor, Member of Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.

² Master student in History and Philosophy of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

10.22055/edus.2025.46442.3578

Abstract

Introduction
The purpose of the current research is to exploring the concept of child's agency and examine its place in the Document of the Fundamental Transformation of Education.

Method
This research was conducted using a qualitative method. The descriptive-analytical method was used to explain the concept of a child's agency, while the analytical-inferential method was employed to examine its position.

Results
The findings showed that the components related to looking at the child as an agent are will and authority, freedom, being a thinker, being a doer, and child responsibility. Child agency in the teaching-learning process regarding components such as children's active participation, possibility of selection by the child, lifelong learning, paying attention to the student-centered approach; And child's agency in the evaluation process refers to components such as formative evaluation, participation in evaluation, individual differences, and self-evaluation. In the second part, the amount of attention to the components related to the view of the child as an agent in the Fundamental Transformation Document are: authority and will (31.51 percent), freedom (26.31 percent), being a thinker (17.10 percent) and being a doer (5.26 percent) and responsibility (19.14); The amount of attention to child agency in the teaching-learning process in the Fundamental Transformation Document are: active child participation (18.04 percent), child choice (21.05 percent), lifelong learning (6.01 percent), the interaction between students and teachers (18.79 percent), paying attention to the student-centered approach (21.05 percent); The amount of attention to child's agency in the evaluation process in the Fundamental Transformation Document are: formative evaluation (35 percent), participation in evaluation (5 percent), attention to individual differences in evaluation (10 percent), and

Discussion
Child agency is essential for early learning, and children have the right to autonomy and freedom and to fully participate in and influence the issues related to them. Due to the importance of this issue, it is expected that those involved will pay more attention to the child's agency in the upstream documents. Not hearing the students' voices, not considering their abilities, and controlling the children's freedom and authority too much can cause irreparable damage.
The above findings indicate that the Fundamental Transformation Document does not pay enough attention to the view of the child as an agent person, as well as the child's agency in the teaching-learning and evaluation process. Also, the lack of independence of the concept of child agency and its relationship with many factors, including the importance of the role of adults, multiple environments, and relationships with structures, was highlighted.

Keywords

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Explaining the child agency status in Fundamental Transformation Document of Education

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Volume 32, Issue 1May 2025Pages 71-96

Volume 32, Issue 1
May 2025
Pages 71-96