Spatiality and children’s civic agency

The present research examines intersections between children’s envisioned civic agency and spatiality. In order to understand how space matters in children’s civic agency, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with three 10-year-old children about their meaning makings in three familiar spaces. As part of the interviews, children were asked to describe how they envisioned responding to a hypothetical scenario (parallel across settings). Thematic data analysis suggests that children’s envisioned civic agency is influenced by the social relations and perceived power structures within each space. In light of the data, we identify aspects of spaces that served as facilitative conditions for promoting children’s agentic practice, and pose critical questions about the nature of schools as sites for fostering students’ civic agency.