Turning Points 2000: Lessons Learned.

Engaging Students and Ensuring Success As a classroom teacher, I (Janet) rarely considered the importance of student engagement until I attended a national conference on the topic. What I learned at the conference, and through my own study upon returning home, transformed my thinking about the impact I could have on student engagement in my classroom. Goslin's (2003) book, Engaging Minds: Motivation and Learning in America's Schools, reminded me we all know what it feels and looks like be engaged in learning, but we often overlook or take for granted the immense amount of motivation and effort sometimes required achieve it. Think of a toddler learning talk or a small child learning ride a bicycle. Experiences like these sometimes require a considerable amount of encouragement and praise sustain one's engagement, while at other times the learner gets so excited and caught up in the activity the learning alone is enough keep him or her engaged (Goslin, 2003). At one time or another, we have all experienced this deep engagement in learning; we just have find a way recreate feeling in our classrooms for our students. Student engagement drives students toward success or, if absent, a lack of engagement leaves students idling or even going in reverse. All good teachers know more learning takes place when students are actually engaged in the curriculum. Yet, we often get so caught up in preparing students pass the state's standardized tests we forget the importance and possibility of real engagement. Even though creating an engaging learning environment can at times seem overwhelming, knowing the impact teachers can have on student engagement can offer a new perspective on teaching practices and the expectations we hold for our students. This article explores the concept of student engagement. Specifically, we ask: What motivates students see what they do in school as relevant, interesting, motivating, and ultimately transformative? What is engagement? Jim Haudan, a former educator and the CEO of Root Learning, wrote the book The Art of Engagement (2008) with the corporate world in mind, but his ideas are applicable engagement in the middle school classroom. According Haudan, People work because they have to. That's why they call it work. But people engage because they want to (p. 29). When students are disengaged, the learning process is merely work. Yet, when the students can see the link between the learning process and their future, they engage because the task is personally important. Teachers can force students work day after day, but for real, sustained learning take place teachers must provide relevant experiences can lead meaningful engagement. While Haudan's (2008) approach engagement appears straightforward, the phenomenon of student engagement is actually multidimensional and complex. Fisher, Marliave, and Filby (1979) studied engagement in terms of learning time, which they defined as, that portion of allocated time during which the student is paying attention (p. 52). Thus, they were concerned with the amount of time students spent on task. More recent studies have investigated three primary components of engagement: behavioral, cognitive, and affective (e.g., Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003; Rhodes, 2007; Skinner & Belmont, 1993). Rhodes (2007) integrates the three components of engagement in the following definition: Engaged students are those [who] think, act, and feel schooling is interesting today while important for tomorrow. Students who are engaged exhibit a set of behaviors support achievement including task persistence, regular attendance, and sustained attention. Emotional factors commonly considered be indicative of student engagement include excitement, interest in learning, and a sense of belonging. Lastly, the psychological/cognitive engagement component manifests as motivation and preference for academic challenge, a positive self-concept, and aspirations for further education. …