Smart and Capable

Supporting Children's Agency in a Complex World

By: Jennifer Keys Adair

A global perspective on early childhood learning and education – giving us clear evidence that children are smart and capable, and why agency is so important for children’s learning

Young children are smart and capable. They already have most of what they need to learn and grow. Author Dr. Jennifer Keys Adair, a Professor of Early Childhood Education and a preschool teacher-turned-cultural anthropologist draws upon 20 years of stories and scientific evidence to show why agency is so important for children’s learning, even in a society that can be dangerous and complicated.

Using examples from many different countries and communities around the world – from Austin, Texas to Bangalaru, Karnataka - this book offers nine core experiences that honor and support young children’s agency: Exploration, Participation, Caring for the Natural World, Conflict, Difficult Discussions, Caring for People, Multilingualism, Multiplicity, and Protection.

Adair emphasizes that the nine experiences have endless variation and will look different depending on where you live, what you have access to, and the types of realities you face. This book is not a manual or a "how to” for teachers and parents, because there is no one best way to support children’s agency. To make this case, Adair includes stories of infants, toddlers, and young children in parks, homes, childcare programs, preschools, elementary classrooms and community centers using their agency in a variety of circumstances.

The heart of the book is a hope that adults will find their own ways to create environments in which children can enact their agency early and safely, so children can shift the world they are inheriting to the world they want.