Agency is not letting kids pick their seat or choose a poster over a slideshow. It's teaching students to understand how they learn — and giving them a real say in it.
When people hear that a school is built around student agency, they often picture something loose: kids choosing where to sit, picking a poster instead of a slideshow, deciding what they feel like working on that day. That's choice. Choice is fine. But it isn't agency, and a school built on choice alone would not serve your child well.
What agency actually means
Agency is a student's growing ability to understand what they need in order to learn well — and to act on it. It's a skill, not a privilege. A student with agency can say, honestly, "I don't have this yet," and know what to do next: ask for a small-group reteach, take a second attempt, find a quieter spot, or break a long project into steps.
Most adults use this skill every day without naming it. We know when we need to read something twice, when to ask a colleague, when to shut the door. Very few students are ever taught it directly. At Philip Fox Academy of LEARNing, we plan to teach it on purpose.
Why it changes how hard a student works
Decades of research on motivation point in the same direction. Self-Determination Theory, developed by psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, finds that people are most motivated when three needs are met: autonomy (having a real say), competence (feeling capable), and relatedness (belonging to a group that knows you).
“Autonomy-supportive environments enhance intrinsic motivation, persistence, and conceptual understanding.”
In plain terms: when students have a genuine say in how they learn, effort stops being something adults have to extract and starts being something students bring with them.
What this looks like at PFAL
Agency shows up in ordinary moments, not dramatic ones. A few examples of what we're designing for:
- A student starting a unit decides whether structured, teacher-led instruction or an applied, project-based route fits this particular topic — and the teacher helps them evaluate that choice honestly.
- In a small advisory group each morning, a student sets a goal for the day and, at week's end, looks at whether it worked. Missing a goal is information, not a punishment.
- With mastery-based grading, a student who scores poorly doesn't file the grade away and move on. They identify what they missed, get another shot, and the new evidence is what counts.
What agency is not
It is not students left alone. PFAL students work toward the same Utah academic standards as every other public school student, and teachers still teach, direct, and hold the line on quality. Structure is what makes agency possible.
The goal is a graduate who doesn't need us: a student who knows how they learn, and can figure out what to do next in any classroom or job. Students learn how to learn, so they can learn anything.
Philip Fox Academy of LEARNing is a proposed tuition-free public charter school coming to Midvale, Utah, with plans to open in Fall 2028. If you'd support a school like this in downtown Midvale, add your name to our Support List below — it's not enrollment, just support.
Philip Fox Academy of LEARNing
Professional Perspectives · philipfoxacademy.org