the agency to persist

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
What does this "agency" mean? "action, power, or operation"?

330-287
ex)Young children always find that new knowledge makes more sense if it is linked to something within their own experience.New knowledge needs to have a purpose; this has sometimes been called 'knowing how' rather than 'knowing that'. This is the kind of knowledge that might help a child to construct a model or plant a bulb. The child needs to know the different qualities between sticky tape and glue or which way up a bulb should be planted for it to grow. Here, new knowledge is attached to an immediate problem which needs to be solved...
New knowledge which is separated from a purpose is not stored with any meaningfulness for the child wo lacks both the curiosity and the agency to persist. Learning this sort does not enable the child to make connections with what they already know and can easily lead to discouragement.
 
Last edited:

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
What does this "agency" mean? "action, power, or operation"?

330-287
ex)Young children always find that new knowledge makes more sense if it is linked to something within their own experience...New knowledge which is separated from a purpose is not stored with any meaningfulness for the child wo lacks both the curiosity and the agency to persist....

It looks out of place to me. What's the rest of the sentence?
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I wonder if it was meant to say "urgency".
 

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
I added more, but I'm not sure if it's a typo or the writer made a mistake.
*The translation goes as "power" for "agency", which I found in a dictionary.
 

JMurray

Key Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
New Zealand
Current Location
Australia
New knowledge which is separated from a purpose is not stored with any meaningfulness for the child who lacks both the curiosity and the agency to persist. Learning of this sort does not enable the child to make connections with what they already know and can easily lead to discouragement.

It is an unusual usage but perhaps here an "agency" means a "power", or possibly "mechanism", that helps produce a particular result. In this case the translation might be more accurate as "impetus", or even "method".

not a teacher
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top