Engagement in Classes Part Two

Author and Educational Consultant archerteach@aol.com Anita L. Archer, Ph.D. Author and Educational Consultant archerteach@aol.com

What does engagement look like? on- task attending in the lesson participating in discussions exerting effort persistent asking questions seeking assistance solving challenging problems

What does engagement look like? positive affect positive attitude curious interested absorbed in task (Boykin & Noguera, 2011)

What does disengagement look like? Avoidance strategies procrastinating not trying looking for excuses not to study avoiding help guessing not asking questions choosing only to do familiar tasks Turner et al, 2002

Why is engagement important? Related to favorable outcomes including increased achievement. (Borman & Overman, 2004; Tucker et al, 2002; Wenglinsky, 2004)

Engagement Active Participation - Student actively participates during the class. Self - Efficacy - Student confident that he/she will be successful on a task. Growth Mindset - Student believes that achievement is a product of learning and effort. Teacher-Student Relationship Quality - The quality of the relationship between teacher and student is high. Teacher Expectations - The teacher conveys an expectation that the student can learn and achieve.

Self - efficacy What is it? the conviction that one can successfully execute a behavior required to produce a desired outcome (Bandura, 1977, 1994)

Self-Efficacy What is it? Perceived probability of success Confidence that I can accomplish the task at hand. Domain specific. (Pajares, 2003)

Self-Efficacy Why is critical? Self - efficacy exerts a powerful influence on academic performance. Self - efficacy is related to engagement and academic outcomes. (Fast et al, 2010; Williams & Williams, 2010; Schultz, 1993; Stevens, Olivarez, & Hammon, 2006; Schunk, 2003)

Self-Efficacy Why is critical? If self-efficacy is high, students approach difficult tasks as challenges sustain effort in face of failure (Bandura, 1994)

Self-Efficacy Why is critical? If self-efficacy is low, students shy away from difficult tasks lower aspirations when faced with a difficult task give up quickly dwell on obstacles that they might face (Bandura, 1994)

Self-Efficacy How is it developed? Past Performance - Performing a task well that requires sustained effort builds high self efficacy. Success begets Success. Observational Learning - Observing others perform a task with confidence influences ones self-efficacy. Social Persuasion - Encouragement by others who believe that your own efforts can be successful.

Self-Efficacy What can teachers do to increase self-efficacy? To increase self efficacy, teachers could...

Mindset What is it? What people believe about personal attributes Such as personality, competence (in music, sports, academics, relationships, career, etc.), intelligence

Mindset What are mindsets Mindset What are mindsets? (Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Molden & Dweck, 2006; Dweck, 2006) Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset - Attributes are inherent - Attributes are products of effort, learning, achievement - Fixed - Malleable - Unchangeable - Open to change - Not under your control - Self improvement under your control

Mindset Why critical? Fixed Mindset Preoccupied with preserving self-respect rather than trying to improve performance When faced with a difficult task, less likely to persist on a task lowers goals/sights

Mindset Why critical? Growth Mindset Persists on a task. Believes that personal effort, learning, working toward a goal related to achievement. When faced with a difficult task redoubles efforts profits from mistakes less anxious in new learning experiences

Mindset Feedback can alter mindset Fixed mindset Ability praise. “You must be very smart at these problems.” Growth mindset Effort praise. “You must have worked hard on these problems.”

Growth Mindset Teachers can promote a “growth mindset” by..

Teacher-Student Relationship Quality What is it? Teacher displays: interest warmth empathy encouragement support optimism Teacher perceived as: fair genuine

Teacher-Student Relationship Quality Why is it critical? Teacher-Student Relationship Quality is related to student engagement and subsequent achievement. (Sutherland & Oswald, 2005)

Teacher-Student Relationship Quality Why is it critical? Teacher-Student Relationship - Effect Size .72 (Hattie, 2009, 2011)

Teacher-Student Relationship Quality How? (See www.interventioncentral.org) “Strive for a High Ratio of Positive Interactions with Students (Sprick, Borgmeier, & Nolet, 2002). A general, proactive rule of thumb to promote positive teacher-student relationships is for instructors to maintain a ratio of at least three positive interactions with any student for every negative (disciplinary) interaction that they have that student. interactions, the teacher maintains a polite, respectful tone.” Remember: three positive to one negative 

Teacher-Student Relationship Quality How? “Commit to a Short Series of Positive ‘Micro-Conversations’ (Mendler, 2000). The teacher selects a student with whom that instructor wants to build a more positive relationship. The instructor makes a commitment to spend 2 minutes per day for ten consecutive days engaging the student in a positive conversation about topics of interest to that student. NOTE: During those two-minute daily conversations, the teacher maintains a positive tone and avoids talking about the student’s problem behaviors or poor academic performance.”

Teacher-Student Relationship Quality How? “Emphasize the Positive in Teacher Requests (Braithwaite, 2001). The teacher avoids using negative phrasing (e.g., "If you don't return to your seat, I can’t help you with your assignment") when making a request of a student. Instead, the teacher request is stated in positive terms (e.g., "I will be over to help you on the assignment just as soon as you return to your seat"). When a request has a positive 'spin', that teacher is less likely to trigger a power struggle and more likely to gain student compliance.”

Teacher-Student Relationships There are a number of things that I can do to build positive teacher-student relationships. First, I can... Next, I can... In addition, it would be useful for me to... Finally, I am going to intentionally ...

Teacher Expectations What are they? What the teacher expects of individual students or groups of students. Teacher expectations differ across students. (Good, 1987; Ferguson, 1995)

Teacher Expectations How are different expectations communicated? Calling on students - Calling on high expectation students more often. - Calling on low expectation students seldom Praise - Praise high expectation students more. - Criticize low expectation students more.

Teacher Expectations How do expectations differ across students? Response to questions - Provide longer responses to questions posed by higher expectation students Thinking time - Give more thinking time to high expectation students

Teacher Expectations How do expectations differ across students? Response to incorrect answers Guide high expectation students to answer. Give answers to low expectation students.

Teacher Expectations To enhance equality and high expectations for all students, teachers can...