Student agency

Student Agency or Inclusive Education...

I often wonder what it must be like in the minds of tamariki at school.
The school game can be a minefield of second guessing. It has it's own set of rules and regulations. As adults we are so in-dwelled in the concept of school that it is our normal, not so for  tamariki...school is a foreign place.

It is not until we have built a healthy relationship with the student that he or she will feel safe to communicate with us, sometimes in their language of physicality, where behaviour is their only language...And it is not until we truly listen to the student in all their languages, that they will have agency, and then, only then, will they know inclusivity.

How do we approach the individual without impressing on them our prejudices?
When do we spend time with learners, joining in their conversation rather than instigating it?
How often are our question and answer sessions more like an interrogation?
Whose questions are tamariki answering?
How do we get to know the learners? Not just the school learner...
When do we make time to get to know learners outside of the school environment?