Mastering autonomy
in education and care
About
Mastering Autonomy invites educators to explore the essential human need for freedom, agency and self-expression, and why autonomy sits at the heart of wellbeing, learning and emotional resilience for children and young people.
Grounded in the Phoenix Cups® Framework, with a specific focus on the Freedom Cup®, this workshop supports educators to view behaviour through a needs-based lens. Rather than interpreting resistance, refusal or non-compliance as problems to be managed, educators are encouraged to consider how these behaviours often represent a child or young person’s best attempt to assert autonomy when it feels restricted.
Blending theory, contemporary research and real-world practice, the session explores how autonomy shows up across educational contexts. Through stories such as Jacob’s, educators examine the relationship between movement, sensory needs, choice and spirited behaviour, and how environments that honour creativity, exploration and whole-body learning can reduce stress responses and strengthen relationships with children and young people.
Participants are supported to reflect on curriculum decisions, expectations and routines, and to explore how autonomy can be intentionally embedded through environments, play and interactions. The workshop equips educators to proactively support Freedom Cup® needs, recognising that when autonomy is not offered, children and young people will seek it in their own way.
This workshop is relevant for educators working across early childhood education and care, outside school hours care, and early years school contexts.
We will
- explore the need for autonomy through the Freedom Cup®, considering how agency, choice, creativity and freedom influence behaviour, wellbeing and learning for children and young people.
- reframe behaviours such as resistance, refusal and escape-seeking as adaptive responses to perceived threats to autonomy, drawing on theory and real practice examples, including Jacob’s story.
- investigate practical ways to embed autonomy within curriculum design, including sensory-rich environments, risky play, STEAM inquiry, loose parts and autonomy-supportive educator interactions.
- engage in critical reflection and shared problem-solving to plan for Freedom Cup® filling in your unique context, with a focus on reducing compliance-driven routines and increasing opportunities for agency and self-direction for children and young people.
Theoretical underpinnings
Participant outcomes
By the end of this workshop, participants will have:
- a clear understanding of the Freedom Cup®, and how autonomy, agency, choice and creativity shape the behaviour and wellbeing of children and young people.
- the ability to recognise reactive behaviours, such as resistance or refusal, as adaptive attempts to assert autonomy, and to respond in ways that prioritise connection rather than control.
- practical skills for designing autonomy-supportive environments, routines and experiences that incorporate sensory development, risky play, STEAM inquiry and open-ended materials.
- the confidence to intentionally embed agency-rich curriculum decisions that support children and young people’s self-esteem, social competence and emotional growth.
- enhanced capability to support problem-solving, perseverance, resilience and confidence by creating opportunities for children and young people to take risks, make decisions, learn from mistakes and experience success.
Sensory Integration Theory
A. Jean Ayres
Supports the workshop’s focus on whole-body movement, vestibular development, proprioception, interoception, and sensory-rich environments as essential foundations for autonomy, regulation, and competence.
Guidance Approach
Dr Louise Porter, Gordon & Campbell
Grounds the workshop’s analysis of reactive behaviours (resistance, rebellion, retaliation) as responses to adult control, and emphasises autonomy-supportive, relationship-based approaches rather than coercion.
Self-Determination Theory
Ryan & Deci
Highlights autonomy as a core psychological need essential for wellbeing, motivation, and engagement. This directly underpins the Freedom Cup® focus on agency, choice, and self-governance.
Loose Parts Theory
Simon Nicholson
Frames environments as catalysts for agency and creativity, enabling children to redesign, combine, manipulate, and imagine without predetermined outcomes, key features of autonomy support and Freedom Cup® filling.
National alignments
QA1 – Educational Program and Practice (Elements 1.1.1, 1.2.1, 1.2.2): Strengthens intentional, responsive practices that promote children’s agency, competence, and self-directed learning.
QA3 – Physical Environment (Elements 3.2.1, 3.2.2): Supports the design of sensory-rich environments that foster creativity, independence, and exploration.
QA5 – Relationships with Children (Elements 5.1.1, 5.1.2): Enhances attuned, autonomy-supportive interactions where educators respond to children’s need for freedom without coercion.
QA6 – Collaborative Partnerships (Element 6.1.2): Encourages shared understanding with families around developmental needs such as autonomy, physical movement, and agency.
Standard 1.1: Physical, social and intellectual development: Deepens knowledge of how autonomy, sensory needs, and agency contribute to behavioural, emotional, and cognitive growth.
Standard 1.2: Know learners and how they learn: Strengthens capacity to identify autonomy needs and respond with developmentally appropriate, freedom-supportive strategies.
Standard 3.2: Plan, structure and sequence learning: Supports educators to design spaces and routines that foster independence, decision-making, and purposeful engagement.
Standard 4.1: Support student participation: Builds confidence in creating inclusive, agency-rich learning spaces where all children can participate meaningfully.
Principle 1 – Child safety and wellbeing are embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture: Promotes environments where children’s rights to agency, participation, and decision-making are upheld.
Principle 2 – Children are empowered and participate in decisions affecting them: Aligns with giving children meaningful choice, voice, and autonomy in daily experiences.
Principle 3 – Families and communities are informed and involved: Supports shared understanding of risky play, freedom, sensory development, and competence needs.
Principle 10 – Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children: Informs autonomy-supportive practices that reduce coercion and increase relational safety.
Culturally Safe, Inclusive & Responsive Programs
- Encourages sensory-rich, open-ended, and agency-based experiences accessible to all learners.
Social & Emotional Learning
- Strengthens resilience through risk-taking, perseverance, problem-solving, and making mistakes safely.
- Builds self-esteem, emotional competence, and autonomy by supporting children’s decision-making and sense of control.
Physicality
- Promotes whole-body movement, strength, vestibular development, proprioception, and sensory integration as essential to autonomy.
- Encourages outdoor play, risky play, active exploration, and physical challenge.
Executive Function
- Enhances planning, decision-making, problem-solving and impulse control through open-ended and autonomy-rich play.
- Strengthens cognitive flexibility and persistence through STEAM, loose parts, and exploratory learning.
Language & Literacy
- Stimulates rich communication through discussions, decision-making, negotiation, problem-solving, and explaining ideas in STEAM and play.
- Encourages expressive language through creative, open-ended, and imaginative experiences.
Access & Inclusion
- Promotes inclusive practices by reducing control-based barriers and increasing flexible, agency-rich experiences.
Communication (language, literacy and numeracy)
- Supports children to express choices, negotiate roles, discuss ideas, reflect on processes, and articulate plans during STEAM and open-ended play.
Wellbeing (Social & Emotional)
- Builds emotional resilience, confidence, and self-regulation through autonomy, mastery, and competence experiences.
- Reduces reactive behaviours by proactively meeting children’s Freedom Cup® needs for control, agency, and independence.
More on mastering autonomy
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