Agency
Part of the Character Framework Collection
Students have self-efficacy; they are empowered to take responsibility for their own growth and act as leaders with their peers. Students are active citizens, advocating for equity in their school, community, and larger society.
Transcript
- [Teacher] They choose the centers in the morning and then when it is their center time they go and they are completely independent. Being independent is so important for kindergarteners. They’re making choices and learning how to talk about their work. A good problem-based task for kindergartners is something that really intrigues them. And so that could be the materials are interesting or the problem itself is really interesting. In this case, they were really in to helping the pre-K students. What are your ideas for pictures? Sophia?
- You can make a number line and they can say which one is less than and which one is more.
- A number line, great, what else?
- [Student] If we did not stand up for what we believe who was going to do this for us? My classmates and I worked with our teachers and school leaders to take on a serious problem in our community: gun violence. Hundreds of incidents of gun violence occurred right in our school neighborhood. And 96% of students in my school personally knew a victim. What can a group of middle school kids do to address such a serious problem? More than you might think. We met with families, community leaders, legislators, clergy, and police. We researched the lives of local peacekeepers, members of all these groups who dedicated their lives to keeping and spreading peace. We celebrated those life stories in a book we wrote ourselves, professionally published and shared nationally. We created public service announcements that were shown on television and viewed by leaders of Chicago.
- I want to be a professional dancer when I grow up.
- I want to be a doctor when I grow up.
- When I grow up, I want to be a policeman.
- We organized a city-wide day of peace.