Mediating factors for student agency: perspectives of school leaders and students

TAM DANG MINH^*

• Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam

This study investigates the mediating factors that influence student agency in a Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) context during ongoing education reform in Vietnam. Grounded in a qualitative case study design, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with six school leaders and open-ended survey responses from 59 secondary students across three school types. The adapted Agency of University Students (AUS) scale was used as a coding framework to identify enablers and constraints of agency, focusing on relational and participatory resources. Findings reveal that while school-level reforms promote student voice and participation, hierarchical norms and high-stakes academic pressure often constrain agency in practice. Trust-based relationships, opportunities for collaboration, and shared school missions were identified as key enabling factors, whereas surveillance, rigid discipline, and family expectations sometimes undermined students' autonomy. These results highlight the complex interplay between cultural values and institutional practices in shaping student agency and suggest that meaningful reform in CHC settings requires both structural change and cultural adaptation.