Promoting Authentic Engagement and Active Learning Opportunities
Around the midpoint of the school year, it is often a time to pause, reflect, and recharge. We must not lose sight that each student can achieve at high levels. It is our job as educators to bring out the best in every child and motivate each to learn. Have you ever pondered if your lesson plan was the most effective way to meet the intended goals? Or, what the tasks and activities that you designed will cause the students to think about? Let’s consider how we can motivate all students to take more ownership of their learning and be responsible for their progress.
Qualities of Authentic Engagement
In 17,000 Classroom Visits Can’t Be Wrong, John Antonetti and James Garver (2015) identified 8 engaging qualities that lead to active learning and high levels of student engagement:
- Personal Response – the work allows students to react and have their own thoughts (there is more than one right answer).
- Clear/Modeled Expectations – the success criteria for students is modeled and understood.
- Emotional/Intellectual Safety – students are willing to take risks, it is ok to have a different answer or be wrong on the way to being right.
- Learning with Others – students have the opportunity to interact with others, sharing and analyzing their thoughts and ideas.
- Sense of Audience – someone whose opinion I care about is going to see my work. Students are more attentive to their work because of an “elevated level of concern.”
- Choice – students get to choose how they are going to gain information and knowledge or how they will demonstrate their learning. They have some control over their work.
- Novelty and Variety – the work grabs students’ attention because it is new and different. It may be new in terms of procedure, product, perspective, place, etc.
- Authenticity – the work is relevant and valuable. Students see connections to their world or the world at large.
Keep in mind, not all 8 of these qualities need to take place in every lesson for high levels of engagement to occur. Start with your current reality and inspect your plans for engaging qualities. In this often collaborative process, you may lean on your colleagues and PLCs to consider new possibilities, tasks, and activities.
Building Awareness and Knowledge
Retrieved from Collaborative Classroom, Zaretta Hammond states, “Instructional equity happens when the teacher is scaffolding learning to the point that the scaffold at some moment falls away, so that the students become independent.” Unfortunately, what often occurs in classrooms is over-scaffolding and the tendency to underestimate the intellectual capacity of students. In this scenario, the teacher carries most of the cognitive load.
Instead, students should be given tasks that require them to stretch themselves and engage in some productive struggle. The more productive struggle among students, the more critical thinking skills will be developed. Practices that emphasize lecture, recall, and memorization will not foster students’ ability to apply their knowledge in new and practical ways. Providing time for students to process the content, think critically, and creatively will help them develop the cognitive skills and habits of mind to better prepare them to take on more advanced academic tasks.
Strategies: What Every Teacher Needs to Know
So, what are some practical strategies that work? Summarized from Jade Pearce’s (2022) What Every Teacher Needs to Know, consider these highlights from her work. First, let’s help students take on new information. To do this, consider pairing words with graphics. We receive information through two primary means, auditory and visual. Student learning increases when teachers convey new material through both. Second, link abstract concepts with concrete representations. Present tangible examples that connect big ideas.
Next, ensure students connect information to deepen their understanding. To do so, pose probing questions, questions that prompt students to elaborate. Asking students “why,” “how,” “what if,” and “how do you know” requires them to clarify and link their understanding of key ideas. And, repeatedly alternate modeling problems with their solutions and problems that students must solve.
Finally, to help students remember what they learned, there are two important strategies. First, distribute practice to ensure students manipulate important content several times after they have learned it. Second, assess to boost retention. In addition to formative and summative assessments, develop periodic assessments that require students to recall material to help information “stick.”
What Matters Most
Every teacher’s experience is unique, and no two classrooms are the same. What matters most, is effectively engaging with students. I urge you to continue to inspire and develop student-centered plans that stretch students, provide opportunities for students to interact with each other, and develop a continued love for learning!
Author: Todd Stephan, WCU Region
References
Antonetti, J. & Garner, J. (2015). 17,000 classroom visits can’t be wrong: strategies that engage students, promote active learning, and boost achievement. Alexandria, VA :ASCD.
BLOG: A Conversation About Instructional Equity with Zaretta Hammond by Collaborative Classroom. https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/instructional-equity-with-zaretta-hammond/
Hammond, Z. L. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Corwin Press.
Pearce, J. (2022). What every new teacher needs to know: how to embed evidenced informed teaching and learning in your school. Bloomsbury Education.