Children's Agency in the National Curriculum: The Promise of Structured Freedom

Presented by Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy

An international seminar and book launch including new research on how children's voices and choices shape their learning.

Date: Tue 24 June 2025
Venue: Room 642, The Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL
Time: 4:45pm to 6:30pm (BST)

Tickets:
In-person Attendance

• £20
• £0 (HHCP Affiliate members, UCL Staff/Students)*

There will be food and drinks served for in-person attendees.
Online-only Attendance

• £0

*Registration fees to attend in person waived for HHCP’s affiliate members, UCL Students and UCL Staff. Email [email protected] to receive a promocode which will allow you to register for free, and for information about becoming an affiliate.

About the Event

There are two parts to this event

• - Hybrid international seminar (4:45pm-5:45pm BST)
• - In-person book launch event (5:45pm-6:30pm BST)

If you are attending in person, tickets are £20. There will also be food and drinks served for in-person attendees. If you are attending online, tickets are free. Please note that only the seminar is streamed online.
The hybrid seminar features a series of ten-minute keynote presentations followed by an audience Q&A. The final presentation will be about the book Children's Agency in the National Curriculum.

Speakers include:

• - Tracy Curran, Director at the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), Ireland
• - Rebecca Jackson, Headteacher, Cragside Primary School, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
• - Yana Manyukhina, Senior Research Fellow, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0 to 11 Years) (HHCP), IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, UK
• - Susan O'Neill, Professor and Head of the Department of Learning and Leadership at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, UK
• - Mark Priestley, Professor of Education and the Director of the Stirling Centre for Research into Curriculum Making, University of Stirling, UK
• - Dominic Wyse, Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society; Founding Director, HHCP, UK

Filming and photography will be taking place during the event for documentation and communication purposes and there will also be food and drinks served for in-person attendees.

About the book

Children's Agency in the National Curriculum, available to order here, explores the critical balance between providing educational structure and fostering children's agency within national curriculum frameworks.

Refund policy

As standard, we do not offer ticket refunds unless the event is cancelled or materially changed so that the event is significantly different than it was when the ticket was purchased. However, for this particular event, we will consider other requests on a case-by-case basis up to 7 days before the event’s date. Please note that any refunds approved will be subject to a fee of £1.05 per ticket*. To request a refund, please email [email protected].

*Based on full price tickets at £20. There is no fee for free tickets.

This event is ticketed by UCL Event Ticketing. For any support with your booking, or enquiries, please contact [email protected]. If you are interested in ticketing services for your own event, please click here to visit our website.