Examining children's agency within participatory structures in primary science investigations

Abstract

Abstract This research examines the use of participatory structures with children in a fourth grade classroom as they engage in an inquiry-based science unit. The dialectical relationship between structure and agency is central to exploring these children's investigation, as children engaged in an investigation designed partly by themselves, in collaboration with their teachers and each other. We consider to what extent participatory structures mediated children's agency in science investigations. Using a combination of ethnographic and design experiment methods, we zoom in on a case study of one child and his collaborative activities with peers, to contextualize the process and underscore the claim that participatory structures created spaces for children to take agency in different ways. Specifically we demonstrate how open-ended structures and participatory curricular design mediated his agentic participation and also transformed the structures of the class, as teachers and students were positioned in new ways.