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Questions of children's agency have experienced a resurgence in education theory over the past years. Yet, there have been few attempts to examine children's agency in the context of a primary classroom from the viewpoint of the curriculum. This gap is being addressed by a longitudinal project exploring the impact of the National Curriculum for England on children's agency through a critical discourse analysis of the curriculum text and an ethnography of three primary schools in England. This paper reports on the results of the critical discourse analysis examining how children's agency is talked about (or silenced) in England's curriculum.

This paper draws on a multi-phase project that sought to understand and increase young children's engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) objects. The paper presents findings from one aspect of this project that involved using storytelling to support young children's agency with STEM objects in a UK science museum. The qualitative research involved observing and interviewing 25 children aged 4–7 years in family and school groups. The findings demonstrate the importance of acknowledging and promoting young children's agency in museum settings. They suggest that providing children with opportunities to exercise agency by them taking control and activating their prior knowledge and interests during museum visits increases their engagement, enjoyment, and confidence. The study also highlights the important role that adults, including parents, teachers, and museum staff, play in facilitating children's agency and increasing their engagement with museum objects and spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one's own choices, is considered central to children's development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the potential implications of curriculum content selections for learner agency remain underexplored. Theoretically, this paper engages with critical realism, explaining how it can provide theoretical foundation for a more comprehensive view of learner agency and, by implication, more balanced curricula. Empirically, the paper draws on the findings from a content analysis of the national curriculum documents of four countries with relatively high scores in international comparative tables, England, Australia, Hong-Kong, and Canada, to develop a new typology of primary curricula. Based on the extent of emphasis placed on knowledge versus skills, values, and attitudes, three types of curricula were identified: knowledge-based, skills-oriented, and learner-centred. Due to its significant theoretical and practical influence globally, we focus on the knowledge-based model and its likely impact on students' agency. We conclude by highlighting the importance of making learner agency a key orientation of the curriculum and suggesting directions for future research.

The article discusses that from school councils to leadership councils, the forum for gathering pupil voice varies from school to school. It mentions that pupils demonstrate the relevance and maturity of their cultural literacy through choices of complex thematic approaches. It also mentions that staff use pupil responses to establish the curriculum context.