Agency of Schoolchildren in the Changing Educational Context during COVID-19 Pandemic: Sources, Manifestations, and Effects

Abstract

The study focuses on the issues of agency (proactive behavior) among schoolchildren engaged in extracurricular activities in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, including the sources of agency, its manifestations, and possible effects. Theoretically, the authors base on the sociological structure/agency debates, in which the role of education remains understudied. The empirical basis for the analysis are the results of a survey of students and their parents about the transition to a remote form of education during the self-isolation regime. The authors show that in most families, new rules have not been developed to support adaptation to novel conditions. Moreover, the existence of such rules and their sources are interrelated with the socio-economic status and educational background of the family. The authors analyze the relationship between the presence of the rules in the family and characteristics of the child's «agentic» activity with the success of the experience during pandemic and satisfaction with related extracurricular activities. Manifestations of the so-called «autonomous» agency of a child, associated with independent and not joint with parents individual proactive action, are of the greatest importance for his/her adaptation to the changing conditions and success in the educational trajectory.

Acknowledgements. The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at the HSE University.