What is children's agency? A review of conceptualizations used in early childhood education research

Children's perezhivaniya and agency during the COVID-19 pandemic: Narrative research from China

“…CA is presently the focus of widespread interest in child-related research (e.g., Esser et al, 2016 ). A review article by Varpanen (2019) reveals that studies on CA offer theoretical resources in six main areas: new sociology of childhood, cultural-historical theory, post-structuralist theory, psychology, the capabilities approach, and American pragmatism. The present article focuses on the issues at hand through the conceptual lenses of the cultural-historical approach (e.g., Edwards, 2005 ; Hopwood et al, 2022 ; Kumpulainen et al, 2014 ; Ma et al, 2022 ; Rainio, 2008 ; Sairanen et al, 2020 ).…”

Machinic assemblages—The role of school policies in producing children's sense of agency

“…In general, researchers have richly demonstrated and discussed how a combination of heterogeneous elements play a role in the production of children's everyday lives (e.g., Alanen, 2014; Hirsto, 2001; Holmberg, 2018). Similarly, the contemporary literature of agency emphasises how agency is constituted in various relations (e.g., Esser, 2016; Oswell, 2013; Prout, 2000; Varpanen, 2019). This means that children's agency is not generated exclusively by children themselves; nor is it something that children possess or do not possess.…”