Student Management vs Student Engagement

Effective classroom management is critical to a successful in-class learning experience.  But, is it enough?  We plan and structure our classes to allow for smooth transition between stages of a lesson and to assist students in achieving the overall goal of the lesson.  But if students are not engaged in class content, how well will they retain what has been covered?

Student engagement is critical in a modern learning environment in which students already have a wide variety of entertaining content at their finger tips.  If our lessons successfully engage students, then they will learn.

So, what is student engagement?  edglossary.com defines it as "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."  Of course, this level of engagement is going to vary from learner to learner and will be different at certain times of the day or week.  Engagement is very much an individual thing...

But, what can we do to increase engagement?  There are 4 things I try to do in any class to raise levels of engagement in the class.  1) Allow for individual differences. 2) Teach for mastery. 3) Allow for originality and expression. 4) Promote autonomy.

1) Individual Differences - All of learners are different.  They are individuals.  They have different needs and characteristics.  Not only do we need to understand our learners on an individual level, but we need to provide for differences in the ways that students learn.  By promoting open communication and discussion with learners we can learn more about them.  In addition, a basic needs analysis at the start of the semester can help us to paint a better picture.  Then, by planning class activities that allow for different ways of learning (learning styles, interaction patterns) we can accommodate individuals.

2) Teach for Mastery - It is critical for motivation that learners experience success.  We need to make sure we praise often and create learning opportunities that allow students to be successful.  Of course, this becomes more difficult in multilevel classrooms.  In such situations, we should offer differentiated instruction that grants a range of learning opportunities to learners at different levels.  Everyone likes to experience success and be praised for it!

3) Allow for originality and expression - This basically means moving the focus away from you, the teacher.  For our learners to produce language, practice, and work on fluency, they need to speak up and out.  In an environment in which we feel our opinions and ideas are valued, we will be much more likely to do so.  Once again, by promoting open communication, learners will more readily express themselves and further develop their confidence and skills in speaking.

4) Promote Autonomy - If learners only study/acquire language in the classroom, it will be very difficult for them to improve.  Language acquisition must take place in the real world (outside the classroom).  This is more likely to happen if learners have both the desire and knowledge to take control of their own learning.  Hopefully, if the classroom provides for the first three items on this list, the desire to learn more will be there.  Then, it comes down to the teacher to educate learners on the strategies and resources they can use to learn in their own time (songs, videos, books, websites, etc.).  If learners are able to learn on their own, they will more readily meet their individual learning needs.

All in all, an engaged classroom is not just a better place for students to learn and acquire language, it's also a FUN place for a teacher to work.  And all of us are more engaged when we are having fun.

If you'd like to read more, here's a link to a story on facultyfocus.com