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Introducing the Book

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Pedagogical Innovation for Children's Agency in the Classroom

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Abstract

This chapter introduces the key concepts and philosophy underpinning the book, as well as its ambition to contribute to pedagogical innovation, impact, and sustainability. The book’s aim, to offer insights on the use of facilitation to promote children’s agency, which is considered essential for the development of dialogic pedagogy, is introduced. Such insights are founded on a thoughtful consideration of previous research and theoretical literature; more importantly, it is believed, these insights are driven by observation of innovative pedagogical practices, where facilitation is utilised to promote children’s agency in the construction of knowledge in classroom conversations.

Workshops with children in two primary schools in the city of London (Year 3 of the English school system, 7–8 years of age) were designed by the authors of the book as a practice of pedagogical innovation to offer children an opportunity to narrate memories encrypted in photographs chosen, or taken, by them. During the workshops, the use of facilitation was aimed at promoting children’s access to the agentic role of authors of knowledge in the classroom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Psychological and Sociological Sciences, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK

    Federico Farini

  2. Centre for Education Research and Scholarship, Middlesex University, London, UK

    Angela Scollan

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  1. Federico Farini
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Correspondence to Federico Farini .

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Farini, F., Scollan, A. (2023). Introducing the Book. In: Pedagogical Innovation for Children's Agency in the Classroom. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28501-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28501-1_1

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