Making connections between being agentic and feeling
capable 

As discussed in Modules 1 and 3, play-based and inquiry learning provides opportunities for students to strengthen their personal and social management and awareness. For example, students may become more socially perceptive, develop self-awareness, and build capabilities and dispositions that foster resilience, tolerance, and self-managing behaviours (VCAA, n.d). These are all capabilities that promote students’ feelings of connectedness and acceptance within the classroom, helping students to feel confident and capable as a learner (Porter, 2016; DET, 2016). 

When students feel confident and capable as learners, they are more able to be agentic. The VEYLDF Practice Principle Guide: High Expectations for Every Child (DET, 2017) explains that students who are agentic construct their own understandings and co-construct understandings with others by: 

  • contributing to others’ learning
  • initiating and leading their own learning
  • having a right to participate in decisions that affect them, including their own learning, and
  • being capable of making choices and decisions.

Resources to support teachers to promote student agency 

Students are supported in the development of agency when teachers have a high expectation of all learners in their classroom. In a play-based and inquiry approach, teachers show high expectations by providing rich and open-ended learning experiences that respond to all student’s strengths, interests and dispositions. 

Let’s take a look at some of the resources that support to develop high expectations of students in the classroom: 

Discussing agency from the perspective of the Amplify Practice Guide 

The interactive diagram below identifies some of the ways that play-based and inquiry learning can form part of the Amplify agenda by giving students voice and agency. By moving through the video and written content, your understanding of Amplify, through the lens of play-based and inquiry learning will be strengthened. 

Associate Professor Liz Rouse and Dr Kim Davies provide some practical examples of how teachers can support learning dispositions in a play-based and inquiry learning approach that upholds students as agentic learners. They draw upon the DET’s Amplify Practice Guide to provide a framework of differentiation.





Orientation

• Professional learning program orientation materials

Module 1

• Module1.1 - What is play-based and inquiry learning?

• Module1.2 - Differentiated through play-based and inquiry learning

• Module1.3 – Experiences and outcomes

• Module 1.4 - What does play look like?

• Module 1.5 - Play-based learning and general capabilities

• Module 1.6 - Building community - discussion and webinar

Module 2

• Module 2.1 - Introduction to Module 2

• Module 2.2 - Linking High Impact Teaching Strategies to play-based and inquiry learning

• Module 2.3 - Planning and implementing play-based and inquiry learning

• Module 2.4 - Organising and resourcing play-based and inquiry learning experiences

• Module 2.5 - Upholding Victoria’s Vision for Learning

• Building community-discussion and webinar for module 2

Module 3

• Module 3: Assessing learning through play

• Module 3.2 Different types of assessment

• Module 3.3 Assessment models

• Module 3.4 Assessment of play

• Module 3.5 Assessing language and literacy

• Module 3.6 Assessing numeracy and mathematics

• Module 3.7 Assessing Personal and Social Capability

• Module 3.8 Building community – discussion and webinar

Module 4

• Module 4.1 Play- based and inquiry learning is differentiated and inclusive

• Module 4.2 Knowing students as players and learners

• Module 4.3 Differentiation as a teaching approach

• Module 4.4 Differentiation in practice-Goal setting

• Module 4.6 Building community–discussion and webinar

• Resource bank

• Webinar Resources