Developing student agency through motivationally anchored instruction

The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of student agency when applied to learning across The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007). To explore agency the author presents and describes a range of teaching pedagogies that are based on principles of intrinsic motivation. The author describes, with examples, six aspects of agentic practice, arguing that, when instruction is “anchored” in these core aspects, students are given opportunities to have power and control over their own learning. Pedagogies which are developed collaboratively with students are important. These collaboratively developed pedagogies enable students to build knowledge and understanding both of how they learn and of factors that contribute to their own success.