You can rarely have a conversation in education without hearing about some "gap", and we’ve got a lot of them: Achievement Gaps, Economic Gaps, Technology Gaps, Knowledge Gaps, Gender Gaps, and the list goes on…
But, who minds the Engagement Gap?
Kindergarten kids run to school! They are excited, inquisitive, and on fire to learn. Engagement dwindles as students move through the grades and by the time they reach HS, engagement is at an all time low.
It is no surprise that the gap widens as sitting and listening take precedence over exploring and contributing. Disengagement is pervasive in many of our middle and high school classrooms-if you don’t believe me, ask the kids! How did you like kindergarten? How do you like school now? Do you see the gap?
So what can we do? We can start by addressing the elephant in the room. We start with conversations!
One of my favorite books to use to address the Engagement Gap with students and teachers is Through the Cracks by Carolyn Sollman, Barbara Emmons, and Judith Paolini. Their book tells a story of how two disengaged students literally fall through the cracks of their classroom. Luckily, the story ends as they are lead towards classrooms where active, personalized learning is taking place and their lives are saved. Sadly, this is not the case for many students who have fallen or who are falling through the cracks now.
The following activities can be used to trigger conversations about the Engagement Gap in your school:
With Students -After reading the story, have students examine the classes where they feel like they are falling. Work with students to talk or write about the conditions in which learning happens best for them rather than their likes or dislikes for specific teachers. Evoke statements like:
- I learn best when..
- I am most excited when my teachers let me…
- I appreciate my teacher when…
- I am motivated by…
With Teachers – Read Through the Cracks aloud and have teachers work in teams to identify students in their classrooms that consistently disengage and brainstorm ways that they can turn that around. Simple options like giving students choice, bringing in an outside links, having time in class for student to contribute or share content can make big differences in students attitude and motivation level.
Warning: This is sometimes a challenging conversation as the discussion focuses on the conditions that we create in the classroom rather than the behaviors of our students.
Questions like these can refocus the conversation on our responsibilities rather than kids behaviors:
- When do my students seem most engaged?
- What activities do students respond to most favorably?
- Does technology change the engagement level?
- Is there a time in my class, where I see a higher level of disengagement?
- If so , what can I do during that time to change that…more modeling, small group work, more collaboration, etc…
- When is the last time that I have asked my students, what supports their learning best?
With Administrators – This is a crucial conversation to have with your teachers. It is easy to spot the classrooms where students are engaged and excited to be there. Replicating those conditions in every classroom is the challenge. In order for that to happen, it is critical to highlight the elements of engaged classrooms rather than individual teachers. Explore and make public the conversations and activities students are involved in. Interviewing students that have participated in engaged classrooms brings a unique perspective to the conversation.
Whatever the method, the conversation must take place or the Engagement Gap will continue to widen and grow. So…how will you mind the gap?
Related posts
-26 Keys to Student Engagement
-Reading as an Act of Engagement
-New Teaching that Focuses on Student Engagement
-National Survey on Student Engagement
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