In education, “student engagement” refers to the degree of
attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when
they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation
they have to learn and progress in their education.
According to the Glossary of Educational Reform, generally
speaking, the concept of student engagement is predicated on the belief that
learning improves when students are inquisitive, interested, or inspired, and
that learning tends to suffer when students are bored, dispassionate,
disaffected, or otherwise “disengaged.” Stronger student engagement or improved
student engagement are common instructional objectives expressed by educators. HOWEVER… It is not up to the student to BE
engaged. It is up to the teacher to CREATE an engaging classroom for learning.
“Student engagement” really is an educational buzz-term that
people throw around all the time with little or no calibration on what it
really looks like with students in the classroom. There are different aspects of engagement and
many different ways to look at it- researchers have listed the following
factors on what it means to be fully engaged:
- Intellectual Engagement
- Emotional Engagement
- Behavioral Engagement
- Physical Engagement
- Social Engagement
- Cultural Engagement
- Relational Engagement
In my experience, from a direct classroom perspective,
student engagement can be narrowed down to three primary factors: Content
and Cognitive Engagement, Behavioral Engagement, and Emotional Engagement. Here is a classroom breakdown for each and
what it would “look like” in the classroom:
Content and Cognitive
Engagement: The content of the
lesson is on target and aligned with the grade level standard. The lesson’s objective not only is focused on
the content of the standard, but it is at the rigor level of the standard. For example, if the standard is asking the
students to “analyze how the author
develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters” the
students will be doing work at the analysis level (detailed examination of the
elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or
interpretation) and not at a lower level of comprehension or basic
understanding.
Behavioral Engagement:
Encompassing students’ effort, persistence, participation, and compliance with
school and classroom structures are the basis for behavioral engagement. When a classroom is proactively managed
including consistent rules and routines, pre-determined norms for
communication, teacher-controlled structured student interaction, and the pace
of the lesson is up-tempo with little or no down-time, there are few
opportunities for students to misbehave and classroom management is not an
issue. In a classroom with behavioral
engagement, the teacher uses low-profile management controls, and physically
the students are involved in their learning. There is so much happening all the
time that students don’t have the time to misbehave.
Emotional Engagement:
Students’ feelings of interest, happiness, a sense of “belonging”, and to the
extent they care about their school and classroom are a part of being engaged
emotionally. However, it also must include the relationship between what and
how the students are learning and their real life. Teachers need to create
opportunities where students’ culture and human interest are taken into
consideration. “Why are we learning this?” and “When will I ever use this?” are
important questions for teachers to consider.
It is obvious when a student is emotionally engaged in a classroom because
they want to be there in mind, body, and spirit and they can make the connection
of how important their learning is. They
are probably smiling a lot too. J
It was Madeline Hunter in the 1960’s and 1970’s that
developed thinking around effective lesson planning, design, and delivery. At the heart of her research was the need for
students to be engaged in their learning.
It would be a great mindset for all teachers if we always asked
ourselves before lesson planning and delivery… “Am I doing all that I can to
keep my students engaged on a content, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional
level?”
