Environment is a Third Teacher: How to Cultivate Agentic Ecologies

What if the rituals you carry out in the classroom had an impact on learning outcomes? What about the design of the space itself? Join global Education Consultant and popular ClassCover Learn presenter, Tonya Gilchrist as she explains how to make it a reality. This course for early childhood educators will show you how to build an environment to help children flourish.  
Early Childhood PD

  • Targeted to

    Early Childhood

  • 1.5 Hours

    Course Duration

  • Standards

    4.1& 4.2 (AITSL)
    4.1.2 & 4.2.2 (NESA)

  • Star rating

    New Course

This course counts toward the
PD requirements in your state

ClassCover Learn is an accessible way for Australian teachers to choose PD courses that interest them while helping them maintain their accreditation.

All courses on ClassCover Learn are created in line with AITSL standards and count towards your teacher PD quota to maintain your accreditation.

Learn more about the PD requirements in your state or territory here.

About this course

What if your learning environment could speak? What would it say about student agency, belonging, and possibility?  

In this dynamic session, we’ll move beyond the physical space and aesthetics of classroom design to explore how rituals, routines, and frameworks can serve as active co-teachers, shaping how learners see themselves, each other, and their world.  

Join Tonya Gilchrist as she invites you to rethink your environments as living systems that can empower student voice, foster autonomy, and nurture deep inquiry. Whether you are a full-time classroom teacher, a single-subject specialist, or a casual teacher, discover how to create agentic ecologies where learners flourish, not by accident or happenstance, but by intentional design. 

You will:

  • Understand what agency is, as well as what it is not, and the importance of self-regulation in supporting agency. 
  • Identify design principles for cultivating learning environments that nurture autonomy, self-regulation, collaboration, and inquiry across age groups. 
  • Explore practical strategies, rituals, and routines to transform existing spaces into agentic ecosystems that align with learners’ needs and aspirations. 

Tonya Gilchrist

International Education Consultant & Learning Strategist

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About the presenter

Tonya Gilchrist is an International Education Consultant who is passionate about promoting enquiry-rich learning. A former educator, Tonya now travels the world providing tailored PD to schools everywhere.