This is the second installment in our three-part series on agency-driven leadership. In our first insight, we introduced the concept and highlighted how leaders at every level can model resilience, growth mindset, and a pursuit of excellence to catalyze change. Here, we turn to the 4Cs—Conceptual Understanding, Commitment, Competency, and Capacity—as a practical framework for making agency-driven leadership actionable.
Having established in our first insight why agency-driven leadership matters and what it requires, we now shift to a practical question: how can leaders turn those ideals into sustained, system-wide change? Fortunately, there is a model available that has a track record of success and can apply to the work of leaders in an agency-driven model of teaching and learning.
Our friends at the New England Accreditation for Schools and Colleges (NEASC) have allowed us to borrow four key tenets from their accreditation process. Schools engaged with NAESC have successfully used these four tenets as catalysts for change - the Mentos in the Diet Coke.
The four tenets, referred to by NEASC practitioners as the “4Cs”, are equally useful when applied as a catalyst for the agency-driven leader. These four tenets are: Conceptual Understanding, Commitment, Competency, and Capacity.
While there are many resources available to support this discussion, the authors of this paper will be referencing a free, frequently downloaded resource available through FullScale (formerly the Aurora Institute), titled, Agency By Design: An Educator's Playbook. To make the 4C’s meaningful, it is important to provide clarity on what they actually represent in the context of being “agency-driven” while making deliberate connections to the specific attributes found in agency-centered models of teaching and learning.
Conceptual Understanding:
Leaders who are agency-driven must understand and value all of the necessary conditions required for the agency to thrive, as well as be knowledgeable of the expected characteristics of students in an agentic environment. In addition to simply knowing and understanding what these conditions are, it is also important to appreciate the interconnected nature of these when it comes to what agency looks like in practice.
The Agency By Design Playbook offers a comprehensive look at each of the seven conditions that are created by teachers in an agentic classroom and the seven characteristics of students that should be present when conditions are set.
One thing to note is that the labels used for conditions and characteristics are familiar titles to educators. What is unique is how those labels are applied to the agency-centered classroom.
As with any shift, change from traditional teaching and learning will occur incrementally and over time. It is not considered to be linear in nature; rather, various elements will emerge uniquely, given the unique setting of each school/classroom. The seven characteristics and conditions are provided in Figure 1. It is recommended that the reader take time to consider these in light of what an agency-driven leader would do in order to bring these to fruition.
Figure 1: Framework for Implementation of the Seven Characteristics and Conditions
Commitment:
Leaders who are agency-driven are committed to the associated beliefs linked to agentic learning environments. As examples, the belief statements taken from the Playbook are listed below (Figure 2). The intent of committing to a set of beliefs is to help guide the leader in decision-making as various obstacles arise that can take the change process off course.
These beliefs can and should be personalized by individual school environments to ensure ownership. Whatever the exact end result, the entire school community should widely share agency-centered beliefs so that buy-in for change is understood and accepted.
It is suggested that the reader take time to reflect on the belief statements. What are the areas that would already be in place in your school? What would a leader need to do to build commitment and momentum in support of belief statements that are tied to agency as a driver of teaching and learning?
Figure 2: Agency by Design Belief Statements
Competency:
To be competent, one must have the competencies (i.e., the knowledge, skills, understandings, and dispositions) needed to carry out the mission of a truly agentic learning environment. It may seem obvious, but it still needs to be affirmed that these competencies can be acquired and mastered over time. Once the commitment is made to shift to an agency-centered environment for teaching and learning, gaining these competencies will be the next step.
It is very difficult to lead something when you do not have the competencies to make it happen. The agency-driven leader must be willing to be the “lead-learner” when it comes to having the requisite knowledge, skills, understandings, and dispositions to create learner-centered environments.
It is worth noting again that leadership, in this context, is not limited to the assigned administrator. Change can occur within the teaching and learning environment. Ideally, both the administrative team and the classroom leaders are working in tandem to bring changes to life!
Mistakes will be made. No effort the first time is perfect. And, in an agency-centered model, mistakes are an accepted part of the learning process for adults and students alike.
The Playbook was developed as a resource to guide the transformation process. Each of the conditions needed in an agency-centered classroom, as well as the characteristics, have a supporting rubric that will help measure the changes with specific descriptions of “what it looks like” to be initiating, developing, implementing, or transforming classroom shifts in practice.
Additionally, the Playbook has examples from practice with each of the characteristics and conditions. Below is an example from the Engagement Section taken from the set of conditions required for an agency-centered classroom (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Examples from Practice
To help personalize the journey toward being competent in our work, each section of the Playbook text has conversational inquiries to promote discussion about your school and your situation.
If you think this is beginning to sound like a commercial—maybe it is (since this is a free resource, hopefully you’ll accept that). The essential message is that to become competent, a guide, a mentor, or a “sister school” can help you in your journey. The Agency By Design Playbook is one such resource.
The agency-driven leader finds the best resource for their particular settings in order to support the work. The agency-driven leader is eager and excited to prioritize the focus on building competent team members.
Capacity:
Capacity is tied to the time, resources, and support needed for the students, faculty, and the school community. It is linked directly to how schedules are developed, opportunities for collaborative work, and agency-focused professional development. Capacity looks at the ability to design a learning environment that contains voice and choice for both students and adults. Capacity, if neglected, can negate the work associated with establishing beliefs, making commitments, or developing competency.
Since so much of this section on capacity rests with areas that are controlled outside the classroom, the concept of agency must be central in the entire organizational management system. The reality is that resources are limited. When given options, the agency-driven leader ensures, to the degree possible, that the 3Cs of Conceptual Understanding, Commitments, and Competency are supported through the allocation of time, talent, and treasure.
The results of capacity building are the definitive outcomes. Agency-centered systems allow for the fostering of agentic behaviors by both teachers and students. The Agency By Design Playbook provides examples of proactive statements that can be applied to both students and faculty, demonstrating specific outward behaviors that are present in an agency-centered school.
An example, taken from the Playbook section on engagement, is an example of the “I” statements that define what agency looks like in action (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Teacher and Student Statements
The 4Cs provide a clear, practical framework for agency-driven leaders to build understanding, cultivate belief, strengthen skills, and allocate resources in ways that sustain meaningful change. Together, they turn the idea of agency-driven leadership into a set of actionable steps for transformation.
Continue with the final insight of this series: Introducing a Framework to Guide the Change Process. We’ll explore how the 4Cs connect to a broader theory of change—a roadmap that helps leaders move from vision to sustained impact. We’ll focus on the process that helps leaders bring those conditions to life through the Friction Free Transformation Framework.
Derek Wenmoth: Derek is acknowledged as one of New Zealand’s foremost future-focused thinkers and is the founder of FutureMakers. He is regularly asked to consult with schools and government agencies regarding the future directions of educational policy and practice in NZ and internationally.
Marsha Jones, Ed. D is a lifelong educator and passionate about promoting and developing the agency of students and teachers. Over the past 45 years, she has served as a classroom teacher, a district-level director of Special Education, and an Associate Superintendent and adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas. Currently, Marsha is enjoying freelance writing, promoting agency for students and educators.
