Bon Air Middle School
Instructional Newsletter - Spring 2017
High Expectations, Engagement and Growth Mindset
Math Interventions Working!
Students Experiencing STEM-based Learning in Summer School!
Walkthroughs Bring Reflection to Instructional Practices
Equitable Education Solutions Blog: Are your instructional choices promoting authentic engagement or compliance?
Why is promoting authentic engagement important in increasing student achievement?
Classrooms throughout our country are filled with students who are disengaged, uninterested, and unmotivated to learn. Many of those classrooms adhere to traditional methods of teaching, where the teacher is the keeper of the knowledge and students are the selected beneficiaries (Baldridge, 2015). While it might be interesting to know if that method was ever successful, it surely does not meet the needs of today’s student. In an era of accountability, research has shown that students who are authentically engaged in learning demonstrate higher scores on standardized achievement tests.
What does authentic engagement look like?
Engagement and compliance can be difficult to differentiate, as many of the actions from students will look the same. Students can appear to be on task in both cases. For instance, taking notes, completing a worksheet, or completing an assignment with a partner could be evidence of both engagement and compliance. The difference is in what kind of task the student is doing and what type of cognitive rigor is required. For example, working with a partner to determine answers to a math worksheet may require little dialogue (e.g., “what answer did you get for #4?) and therefore low-rigor. If students are trying to solve problems, ask questions, and defend their work, (e.g., how do we know our answer is correct?) the level of rigor increases, as does the level of engagement required to complete the assignment.
Phil Schlechty, author of “Working on the Work,” identified five levels of engagement, which are identified below:
- Rebellion – student refuses to work and causes disruption for others
- Retreatism – Student becomes disengaged and lacks participation
- Ritual Compliance – Student is willing to comply to avoid negative consequences
- Strategic Compliance – Student will comply to obtain superficial goals, e.g., letter grade
- Engagement – Student is motivated and learning is meaningful
Students who “opt out” and avoid participation are easy to detect as either rebelling or retreating. This “disengagement” increases as students move from elementary to upper grades (Graham & Weiner, 1996; Felner et al, 1997; Brewster & Fager, 2000). The result is more than one million students who drop out of high school each year (Washor & Mojkowski, 2017).
Rebelling and Retreating
The book Grit (Duckworth, 2016) presents a study by Steve Maier. In the study, young rats were divided into two groups. Both groups received electric shocks, but one group was given a small wheel that would turn off the shock. The first group had control over stopping the shocks; the second group did not. The rats were tested a few weeks later. This time, neither group was given the ability to stop the shocks. In observing the two groups, however, two different types of behaviors emerged. The first group was mostly unaffected, while the second group would retreat and act in a timid manner. Maier concluded that rats that had experienced some control at one point were more resilient than the group that had never had choice.
This same conditioning happens in our classrooms. Think about the students who either rebel or retreat. At what point in time did they determine they weren’t capable of learning? Think about the extent to which students are authentically involved. To what extent were these disengaged students set up to either get the right answers – or not?
How can I create the conditions for authentic engagement in my classroom?
“Student engagement is one byproduct of effective instruction that has major pay offs,” (Hurst, 2013, http://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/seven-ways-to-increase-student-engagement-in-the-classroom). Teachers must first construct the conditions for engagement. In an excerpt from Barbara Blackburn’s Rubric for Gauging Progress Toward Rigor, the following student actions would be expected from students in a highly engaged classroom:
- Making connections
- Contributing to a small group, partner, or whole group discussion
- Responding to learning
Teachers must create classroom environments where students have time and opportunities to make connections to their own lives and do projects that are connected to real-world situations. Teachers must also provide opportunities for students to share their ideas with others, ask questions to clarify and advance their thinking, and reflect on the information they’ve gathered.
For part two, check out EES blog at http://k12boost.com/instructional-choices-promoting-authentic-engagement-compliance-part-ii/.
Bon Air Career Middle School
Email: alandrum@kokomoschools.com
Website: www.kokomoschoools.com
Location: 2796 N Apperson Way, Kokomo, IN, United States
Phone: 765-454-7025
Facebook: facebook.com/bacskokomo
Twitter: @bonaircareer