Engage the Day!

Let's start with a quote:

"It's biologically impossible to learn something if we are not attending to it, and we don't attend to things that are not emotionally important to us." ~Robert Sylwester from A Biological Brain in a Cultural Classroom

Simplification (Series anyone?) of student engagement is an undertaking. Even wrapping your head around "types" of student engagement can be confounding and, for the most part, student engagement is not measurable. Types of student engagement may range, depending upon your source, from a classroom that is totally chaotic (Student Rebellion), trending in the wrong direction (Student Retreat), command and control (Student Ritual Compliance), intelligent adherence (Student Strategic Compliance) and, of course Utopia (Active/Authentic Student Engagement). The search for Utopia can be a long, yet worthwhile endeavor and much like what has been previously discussed, the steady state of active engagement may be fleeting and require ongoing minor adjustments by the classroom teacher. 

The classroom teacher must have the capacity to regulate internal classroom conditions, such as student engagement. If we take Robert Sylwester's quote to heart, then making content and skills emotionally important to students seems to be first on the to-do list and is of primary importance. How is consistent, daily, uninterrupted authentic student engagement possible? First, the reflective and aware educator must have a handle on the level of student engagement in the classroom from day to day. To be unaware, dismissive, or deflective about student engagement is counterproductive. The classroom teacher must also embrace that student experiences are as important, or perhaps more important, than student outcomes. Educators must be willing to consider that student experiences (the journey) go hand-in-hand with student outcomes (the destination). Active student engagement is the primary focus of the journey. Making the material come to life, making the material relevant, making the material relatable.....the list of maxims and adages goes on and on.

Student engagement is more important now (2024), than ever before. Student attention and interest is pulled and diverted in multiple directions all day, every day. Student disengagement and disinterest can seem ubiquitous. However, there is no magic strategy, method, or app to consistently engage students. Educators must re-engage, if not engaged already, in the effective and research-based practices of mentoring, coaching, professional development, peer interaction, collaboration, conversation, etc. The time for creative problem-solving, innovation, and collaboration is NOW. Let's go!!!