What Ecological Agency Looks Like in Practice
In education and organisational life, we often talk about agency as if it were a personal quality - something individuals either have or lack. We might describe someone as confidence, motivated, proactive, or resilient, and assume these traits explain their ability to act. However, research and professional experience suggest something different. Agency is not simply an individual characteristic. It is ecological. It grows - or shrinks - in response to the relationship, cultures, and systems that surround a person. When we look at agency through this ecological lens, the question shifts from “why isn’t this person more agentic?” to What conditions make agency possible here?”. Understanding ecological agency helps us move from focusing solely on individuals to examining the environments that shape what people are able to do, say, and become.
A Framework for Understanding Ecological Agency
Ecological agency has been theorised by Professor Mark Priestley and colleagues as something that is achieved in context. shaped through the interplay of three dimensions.
International - The Past
This dimension refers to the experiences, habits, beliefs, and histories that individuals bring with them. In practice, this might include:
a teacher’s previous experiences of trust or surveillance
a young person’s history of support, exclusion, or success
organisational memories about “how things are done here”
These past experiences shape what people feel is possible or risky in the present.
Practical-Evaluative - The Present
This dimension relates to the cultural, structural, and relational conditions people are navigating right now. It includes:
time pressures and workload
leadership approaches and psychological safety
availability of resources and support
whether dialogue and reflection are valued
This is where agency is most visibly enabled or constrained. Even highly capable people may struggle to act agnatically in environments that are rigid, rushed or unsupportive.
Projective - The Future
This dimension concerns how people imagine their future - their goals, aspirations, and sense of direction. Agency grows when people can:
see meaningful futures
connect present actions to longer-term purposes
feel their voice influences what comes next
When futures feel closed down or predetermined, agency narrows. Seen this way, agency is not a trait someone possesses - it is something that emerges through the dynamic relationship between past experiences, present conditions, and future possibilities.
Agency Is Relational, Not Just Personal
One of the strongest themes emerging from my research is that agency develops in relational spaces. Students, educators, and professionals are more likely to act with confidence and initiative when the experience:
trust in relationships
respectful dialogue
space to think and reflect
a sense that their perspectives matter
In contrast, when relationships are characterised by judgement, hierarchy without dialogue, or fear of getting things wrong, agency tends to narrow. People become more cautious, less willing to experiment, and more focused on compliance than contribution.
Relational conditions sit firmly within the practical-evaluative dimension of ecological agency. They shape how safe people feel to draw on their past experiences and project themselves into possible futures.
Culture Matters More Than Policy
Many organisations develop policies designed to promote inclusion, voice, and participation. These documents often contain strong language about empowerment and collaboration. Yet the lived experience can be very different. Ecological agency depends far more on culture than on written strategy. Culture is visible in:
how meetings are run
whose ideas are taken seriously
how disagreement is handled
whether questions are welcomed
how mistakes are treated
A policy might state that everyone’s voice matters, but if people experience subtle dismissal, time pressure, or unspoken hierarchies, agency will be constrained regardless of the policy’s intent.
In settings were agency flourishes, there is usually a strong sense of pyschological safety. People feel able to raise concerns, explore new ideas, and admit uncertainty without fear of humiliation or blame. This safety strengthens the practical-evaluative conditions that allow people to act.
Transitions Reveal the System
Moments of transition are particularly revealing when it comes to ecological agency. Transitions might include:
moving between educational phases
changing roles within an organisation
shifting from education into employment
adapting to new teams or environments
During these periods, established relationships and familiar routines are disrupted. For individuals who are already navigating difference - including many neurodivergent people - transitions can feel especially destabilising.
Where systems are fragmented, transitions often involve repeated explanations, lost information, and a sense of starting again from scratch. In these contexts, people’s projective dimension - their sense of future possibility - can narrow. Agency is easily diminished, and people can feel acted upon rather than actively involved.
Where systems are more relational and joined up, transitions look different. There is continuity of support, shared responsibility across teams, and meaningful involvement of the person at the centre. Here, transitions become spaces where agency can grow, as individuals are supported to make choices, express preferences, and influence the path ahead.
Transitions, then, act like a mirror. They reflect how well a system supports people across all three dimensions of ecological agency.
Coaching as a Mechanism for Agency
In my work, coaching has emerged as one of the most powerful practical approaches for strengthening ecological agency. Coaching creates structured opportunities for:
slowing down thinking
exploring assumptions
reconnecting with values and intentions
identifying choices and possibilities
Importantly, coaching is not about giving advice or directing action. It is about creating a relational space where people can make sense of their experiences and see themselves as capable of influencing their situation.
Coaching particularly strengthens the projective dimension of agency, helping people articulate future possibilities, and the practical-evaluative dimensions, by creating psychologically safe spaces for reflection and dialogue.
When coaching becomes part of a wider organisational culture - not just a one-off intervention - it contributes to an environment where reflection, dialogue, and shared problem-solving are normalised. This cultural shift support agency not only at the individual level, but across teams and systems.
From Individual Effort to Shared Responsibility
Viewing agency ecologically helps us move away from narratives that place responsibility solely on individuals to be more resilient, confident, or adaptable. Instead, it invites us to ask:
How do our structures support or constrain participation?
Where do our processes create unnecessary barriers?
How do our everyday interactions influence whether people fee safe to act?
This perspective is especially important in work around neuro-inclusion. When environments are overwhelming, unclear, or inflexible, the burden of adaptation often falls disproportionately on neurodivergent individuals. By contrast, when systems are designed to be more predictable, transparent, and responsive, more people are able to exercise agency without excessive effort.
Ecological agency reminds us that the capacity to act is never just personal - it is shaped by context across past experience, present conditions, and future possibilities.
Questions for Reflection
If you are a leader, educator, or practitioner, you might consider:
How do people’s past experiences shape what they feel able to do here?
What present cultural and structural conditions most influence people’s confidence to act?
How do transitions affect people’s sense of future possibilities?
How might coaching-informed approaches help create more space for dialogue and reflection?
Ecological agency does not emerge from slogans or isolated iniatives. It grows in the everyday fabric of relationships, cultures, and systems. When we attend to these conditions, we create environments where more people can participate, influence, and flourish.