Agency, responsibility and equity in teacher versus student-centred school activities: A comparison between teachers’ and learners’ perceptions

The aim of this study was to compare students’ and teachers’ perceptions of two differently organized learning environments, i.e. teacher- versus student-centred activities. Specifically, we considered their views on the dimensions of student agency, responsibility and context equity. The study was held on a sample of 26 teachers and 397 middle school students. The results showed that student-centred activities—organised ad hoc after a teacher training—were only partially perceived as differently promoting the three dimensions. Moreover, our study confirmed that teachers tended to emphasize their capacity to foster agency, responsibility and equity both in teacher and student-centred activities. In contrast with the core recommendations contained in European and local documents, the results of this this study suggest that there is still a resistance in school that limits the possibility for students to be positioned as active authors of their teaching and learning environment.