What is student engagement?

We all think about student engagement, but do we ever stop to think about what it really means?  Is student engagement more than just: What will my students be doing? How can I engage each student in this activity? How will I know they are engaged? Let’s take a step back to look at the definition of student engagement, provided by The Glossary of Education Reform:

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. 

Many teachers focus on the “attention” aspect of that definition. Are our students focused with on the task at hand or the cell phone in their hand? But attention is only one of the five factors indicated here. In order to create lifelong learners, we need to be focusing on the other four aspects.  

Why aren’t students engaged?

Through my journey as both a teacher and an instructional coach, I narrowed it dow to three simple reasons:

1. It’s too hard
2. I don’t care
3. I don’t know 

It’s too Hard

Reason one is a generalized statement indicating that the work is not at the right challenge level for the student. The work may be exceedingly challenging for the student, as they may be lacking in the prerequisite skills to complete the tasks. Conversely, the work may be exceedingly easy for the student, and they find no motivation to attempt work that they’ve already mastered.

I don’t care

Let’s face it, our students are growing up in a society where more adults in their lives are going to surround them with negative thoughts about mathematical abilities. We know from studies and work by Jo Boaler and Carol Dweck that fostering a growth mindset in students is essential to their success in mathematics. But beyond that, this reason for lack of student engagement drives home the point that students don’t see the relevance of mathematics in their lives. We are in a prime time in education to revolutionize the way in which we teach mathematics. We have the ability to focus on deepening conceptual understanding and practical application, rather than the skill + drill procedural routine that pervades mathematics education.  

I don’t know

In this instance, it is not that they don’t know mathematics. The focus here is that students are unaware of how to best participate in the learning process. Students aren’t aware of how they can properly engage in the lesson or activity. Humans thrive on routine and teachers are amazing at creating routines for classroom policies and procedures. Yet we often overlook routines and norms for specific kinds of work tasks. In a time when so many of our students deal with anxiety, it is essential to their success that they know exactly how to contribute and participate in a lesson effectively. 

Student Engagement Strategies

Over the next few weeks, we will be diving into a mini-series on how to increase student engagement.  It is a topic near and dear to my heart, and I can’t wait to explore this with you further!

For a sneak peak at the tips and tricks, make sure you grab your copy of 5 Simple ways to Boost Student Engagement today! And make sure to join us at The Modern Math Teachers Movement on Facebook where I’ll be going LIVE to chat about student engagement strategies with you!