REDEFINING ENGAGEMENT
Module from Early Adolescence
Engagement of students during the learning process is very important. Teachers should not force learners to study but engage them in different activities which lead to successful learning. High and Andrews (2009) in their article "Engaging Students and Ensuring Success" state very clearly that engagement is a key to successful learning. When students are engaged, they are really interested in what they are doing and concentrate on the material and task which provides deeper understanding and consolidation of what they are learning.
It is worth noting that engagement is not entertainment. Some teachers are performers by nature, but an entertaining personality alone will not necessarily create sustained engagement. Engagement requires students to be emotionally and psychologically invested in their learning. Lessons should be designed to engage and challenge every student in the room. This can be accomplished by getting to know your students and incorporating their personal interests in the lessons. When teachers neglect the personal needs and concerns of their students, they harm the sense of community in the classroom. Therefore student's voice and relationship between students and a teacher should be considered.
Engagement in the classroom creates a new type of Educational Institution which is not driven by rules, but by shared beliefs and values, and which is flexible and responsive. The video below promotes an idea that profound learning is likely to happen when students are engaged, when they see meaning in their work. Teachers should become facilitates of profound learning in and out of the classroom.
According to Phillip Schlechty in the handout "Our Commitment to Engagement" there are several types of students in the classroom. There some characteristics of each type below.
Students who are engaged:
- Learn at high levels and have a profound grasp of what they learn.
- Retain what they learn.
- Can transfer what they learn to new contexts.
Students who are strategically compliant:
- Learn at high levels but have a superficial grasp of what they learn.
- Do not retain what they learn.
- Usually cannot transfer what they learn from one context to another.
Students who are ritually compliant:
- Learn only at low levels and have a superficial grasp of what they learn.
- Do not retain what they learn.
- Seldom can transfer what they learn from one context to another.
Students who are in retreat:
- Do not participate, and therefore learn little or nothing from the task or activity assigned.
Students who are in rebellion:
- Learn little or nothing from the task or activity assigned.
- Sometimes learn a great deal from what they elect to do, though rarely that which was expected.
- Develop poor work habits and sometimes develop negative attitudes toward intellectual tasks and formal education.
Teachers can enhance the prospect of students’ being engaged in the tasks and activities they want them to be engaged in by attending carefully to building into the work they provide those qualities that are most likely to appeal to the values, interests, and needs of the students involved.
Downes and Bishop (2012) in their article "Educators Engage Digital Natives and Learn from Their Experiences with Technology" claim that traditional measures of engagement should be stretched to include the “meaning and signifcance the student attaches to the tasks he or she is assigned” (Schlechty, 2001, p. 68). Even the best educators sometimes feel at a loss to help students see the meaning, excitement, and authenticity in what they are learning. Many assert that the key to engaging learners is to bridge the gap between students’ in-school and out-of-school lives by integrating more technology into the classroom.
Students report that learning in a technology-rich environment is engaging because, in addition to allowing them to use familiar technologies in new ways, learning this way is fun and collaborative, affords them opportunities for creativity, enables effcient use of their time, and provides them with helpful organizational tools.
Authors of the article have learned that preparing schools for 21st century learning is less about designing engaging activities for students and more about unleashing the learning potential of students and the technologies with which they are familiar.
References:
"Redefining Engagement" Module from Early Adolescence
Downes, John M. & Bishop, Penny. (2012). Educators Engage Digital Natives and Learn from Their Experiences with Technology. Middle School Journal, 43:5, 6-15. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-yDe2y5kw3dFZ0SGEzeGtDQUk/view
High, Janet, & Andrews, P. Gayle. (2009). Engaging Students and Ensuring Success. Middle School Journal, 41:2, 58-63. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-yDe2y5kw3em1LeGZiVVo5aEk/view
Lattimer, Heather, & Riordan, Robert. (2011). Project-Based Learning Engages Students in Meaningful Work. Middle School Journal, 43:2, 18-23. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-yDe2y5kw3Sm5VeE5EdTZ4dVk/view
Schlechty Center Video. (2011). Fable Vision. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1NzX6mDOWU
Schlechty, Phillip. (n.a.). Our Commitment to Engagement. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0kJUUs48nTbaHFxYzdSb1RQSWc/view
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