Empowering early learners: Navigating the interplay of teaching practice and formative assessment for cultivating student agency in the primary classroom

Bev Coombridge, Doctoral Student, University of Buckingham, UK; Initial Teacher Educator, Bethlehem Tertiary Institute, New Zealand The development of student agency is increasingly recognised as a crucial element in effective education (Sirkko et al., 2019; Cook-Sather, 2020; Ruef, 2021), particularly in the formative years of primary school (Vaughn, 2018). Research has consistently shown that formative assessment can significantly impact children’s learning (Black and Wiliam, 2006; Dann, 2014). Despite a robust body of research on formative assessment and a growing interest in student agency, a notable gap exists in understanding how specific assessment methods, such as co-constructing an assessment context, affect student agency. This is especially true for children in their first two years of primary school. To address this gap, a doctoral research project was initiated to explore how student agency can be fostered through co-constructed formative assessment in classrooms of fiv