Four Classroom Conditions that Promote
Student Engagement
There are four key classroom conditions that I believe will increase student engagement. My views on student engagement are heavily influenced by the work of Eric Jensen and Marcia Tate. A recent learning walk at St. Joseph High School has provided me with several pictures which underscore the effectiveness of these strategies for creating student engagement.
1. Student Choice
Referred to by many as differentiated instruction or differentiated learning, student empowerment with respect to the selection of learning tasks and conditions, resources, and assessment methods is essential to motivating students. In her book "Sit & Get" Won't Grow Dendrites, Tate states that "Adults learn best when ... They have input into the selection of the content and even development of the learning experiences." (3) I believe that students of all ages and stages, to varying degrees, need choice in their learning. Jensen is succinct: "Letting students make some decisions leads them to feel more engaged because they have a personal stake in the class's proceedings." (42)
Differentiation should be about more than just choosing between a couple of options with respect to how a student demonstrates his or her learning (ie. choosing to write an essay or create a powerpoint presentation), or student input in the creation of rubrics. Real student choice permits students to stretch the very boundaries of learning, enabling them to re-shape and re-define the tasks they will complete, the conditions under they will provide evidence of obtaining the learning goals, and the manner in which they will be assessed.
1. Student Choice
Referred to by many as differentiated instruction or differentiated learning, student empowerment with respect to the selection of learning tasks and conditions, resources, and assessment methods is essential to motivating students. In her book "Sit & Get" Won't Grow Dendrites, Tate states that "Adults learn best when ... They have input into the selection of the content and even development of the learning experiences." (3) I believe that students of all ages and stages, to varying degrees, need choice in their learning. Jensen is succinct: "Letting students make some decisions leads them to feel more engaged because they have a personal stake in the class's proceedings." (42)
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| Student choice: St. Joseph English students selected their own novels and the means by which they would demonstrate their learning. This grade 9 student created a board game for Of Mice & Men |
2. Variety
Yes, variety is the spice of life. However, in the classroom, it's more than a spice - It's a main ingredient! Tate and Jensen identify a wide-range of strategies that bring novelty to the classroom, including cooperative learning, project-based learning, visuals, games, artwork, role plays, movement, music, and storytelling, to name just a few.
Yes, variety is the spice of life. However, in the classroom, it's more than a spice - It's a main ingredient! Tate and Jensen identify a wide-range of strategies that bring novelty to the classroom, including cooperative learning, project-based learning, visuals, games, artwork, role plays, movement, music, and storytelling, to name just a few.
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St. Joseph Intermediate students in language arts class engage in a cooperative
learning activity whereby they use pictures to develop inference-making skills
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Adding variety to learning increases not only student engagement but as well student achievement. John Hattie's mega-analyses of factors which influence learning shows the positive effect size of novel approaches to learning:
- interactive video methods 0.52
- play programs 0.50
- co-operative learning 0.42
- drama/arts programs 0.35
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St Joseph high school English students' minds and bodies are engage in an interactive gallery walk
by which they shared with each other their critical perspectives on Mary Shelley's Frankenste
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3. Purposeful Leveraging of Technology
Unquestionably, any use of digital technologies in the classroom will appeal to young learners. However, to hold their attention and enrich their learning experience, the integration of digital technologies should be strategic. The SAMR model is useful for helping teachers successfully integrate technology.
Unquestionably, any use of digital technologies in the classroom will appeal to young learners. However, to hold their attention and enrich their learning experience, the integration of digital technologies should be strategic. The SAMR model is useful for helping teachers successfully integrate technology.
As students are afforded opportunities to enhance and, ultimately, transform learning tasks through the use of technology, they will experience greater levels of engagement.
4. Authentic Inquiry Learning
The more authentic the learning task, or the closer its connection to the real world, the greater the likelihood that students will be engaged. Some important features of engaging inquiry-based learning include:
The more authentic the learning task, or the closer its connection to the real world, the greater the likelihood that students will be engaged. Some important features of engaging inquiry-based learning include:
- a compelling question or investigation
- personal relevance for the student
- full learner investment - physical, intellectual, ethical (spiritual) & emotional investment
- includes self- reflection opportunities
- learning outside one's comfort zone
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| Grade 10 history student displays evidence of learning from her inquiry regarding Holocaust memorials |
Book Review: Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind
by Eric Jensen
Eric
Jensen presents in Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind strategies that address factors which are, in his estimation, "crucial" to engagement of students who are
challenged by socioeconomic factors.
In
Chapter 1, Jensen reveals the 7 factors crucial to student engagement:
-
Good
health & nutrition
-
Rich
vocabulary experiences
-
Effort
& energy
-
Positive,
growth-oriented mind set
-
Cognitive
capacity
-
Positive
adult (teacher) relationships
-
Effective
reduction of stress levels
In
Chapter 2, Jensen outlines his 5 rules for engagement for teachers of
socioeconomically-challenged students:
- Upgrade
your attitude by affirming & engaging
- Build
relationships & respect with students by taking genuine interest in them
and being accepting of their cultural & social capital
- Get
buy-in by selling students on learning; use hooks like incentives &
challenges
- Embrace
clarity in expectations
- Show
your passion by being positive and active
With respect to the 2nd rule, Jensen
reminds teachers that, according John Hattie, “teacher-student relationships
have a whopping 0.72 effect size when it comes to student achievement.”
Jensen,
in Chapter 3, outlines 5 actions that teachers can take to create a positive classroom climate which will enable student achievement.
- Raise
the bar of expectations regarding student success by affirming their
achievements and projecting an attitude that they will succeed
- Manage
mind-body states by reducing lecture time, asking compelling questions, and
giving students more control
- Establish
a family atmosphere – use get-to-know-you activities and lots of social
interaction time
- Sustain
positivity by teacher and peer affirmation and class/team celebrations
- Teach
positive social & emotional responses – mainly by modelling them
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| Eric Jensen |
Chapter
4 opens with the sobering recent research finding that children who grow up poor are more likely to have less developed executive function skills - including critical
thinking and problem-solving skills. However, teaching cognitive skills has a
significant 0.69 effect size. Thus, teachers
should practice the 5 actions Jensen
identifies for building students' cognitive capacity.
- Build attention skills with strategies such as
pauses and chunked learning, physical activity breaks, high-interest reading
material, and quick writing tasks
- Teach problem solving (ie; transferrable models
for problem solving) and critical thinking
- Training working memory for both images and
sounds by having students practice recall through games
- Develop processing speed such as sorting,
calculating and analyzing skills
- Foster self control by teacher wait skills
Jensen
opens Chapter 5 with a statement of intent to shake teachers out of complacency
when it comes to motivating students: “There is no such thing as an unmotivated
student; there are only students in unmotivated states, sitting in demotivating
classrooms.” (73) In this chapter, he
then outlines 5 “powerful actions” for increasing student motivation:
-
Make learning students’ idea by giving them
choice in content, having them create rubrics and self-assess, and allowing
them to be mentors
-
Manage risk by making the classroom a safe
place to contribute, share and ask questions
-
Build a growth mindset in students by affirming
their choices, attitudes, effort, and ability to learn
-
Provide specific feedback on learning goals,
progress towards goals, and next steps
-
Get a “trial-size effort” by “micro-chunking”
content
In
Chapter 6, the author explores specific actions related to the 5 “building
blocks” of learning that teachers can take to allow students to develop deep,
sustained understanding:
-
Teach understanding of labels (terms) by
assessing their prior knowledge and teaching mnemonics
-
Help
students discover properties of new terms by having them organize labels and
analyze the properties that make a label unique
-
Aid
students to develop context and meaning by allowing them to share personal
stories related to the topic of study, generate hypotheses, establish meaning through metaphors, and
engage in authentic projects
-
Ensure students “Get it right” by providing
success criteria and using peer feedback
-
Help students transfer learning by setting it
in the context of students’ world
Four
actions that help increase energy and focus in the classroom are the theme of
Chapter 7:
-
Get students moving with short (every few
minutes) activities such as gallery walk critiques and scavenger hunts
-
Energize students in their seats
-
Increase focus by positive talk exercises and
pre-test reflective writing
-
Use music to influence energy level with upbeat
music for high-energy activities and soft instrumental music for reflective
activities
In
Chapter 8, five actions to “automate” engagement in the classroom are shared:
-
Establish classroom rituals such as “callback”
songs to begin class
-
Foster leadership and teamwork by assigning
clear roles in cooperative learning and getting students involved in community
projects
-
Captivate with stimulating curriculum such as project-based learning
-
Integrate technology - using it to demonstrate and share learning
and to assess learning
-
Cultivate school-wide support
Jensen
concludes the book by giving teachers 4 actions for successful implementation
of engagement strategies:
-
Get organized by determining which “engagement
domain” (attitude, effort, behaviour, or cognitive capacity) is your most
pressing priority
-
Engage with differentiation by shifting your
attitude and application, boundaries, or context of engagement strategies
-
Know what to expect from students, colleagues,
and yourself
- Break
down the breakdowns by debriefing on what went wrong, thinking through next
step,
and setting goals & implementation intentions
and setting goals & implementation intentions
