Was sind häufige Ursachen für mangelndes Engagement von Schülern?

How often do we involve students, their culture and context in our curriculum design? What is 'worth' learning and why? Should our curriculum goals be about peace, justice and equality - the SDGs'? What do students leave school with that is PRACTICAL and they can physically take away with them? Could they graduate with a personal memoir/autobiography, professional network that is relevant and support them, an idea of the banking system, how to self-manage and cook healthy, nutritious meals? Why don't students 'shadow' support staff in our schools more/ have a non-teaching mentor? The UWC Atlantic Curriculum with the IB is shifting the way we think about curriculum to global priorities that need a systemic level of thinking in approach.

If the student cannot make the connection between what they are learning and why they are learning it, then there is a risk of disengagement. Oftentimes, communication and clarity are needed to help students make a connection to the purpose and objectives of learning. If we want students to be invested in the curriculum, then we have to assess their levels of interest and understanding. Acknowledge the knowledge the students bring to the learning, and respect their ways of knowing.

A aprendizagem precisa ter sentido para a vida. Na prática, aplicar as teorias nas experimentações é o que propõe aos alunos a vivência necessária para aplicar os conhecimentos e elucidar o que, de fato, é importante para o processo de ensino. Desta forma, nos aproximamos e aprimoramos o engajamento dos estudantes, trazendo a verdadeira importância da escola para a vida social.

I argue that to ensure engagement, learners need to understand why they are learning what is being taught, and understand how it connects to previous learning, the real world, and future learning. For many subjects, it is challenging to make relevance obvious. For example, I taught maths, and it was hard trying to convince students of the relevance of long division. It can be difficult for teachers to demonstrate the importance of new knowledge and skills when they are links to learning that may occur in the future. In such instances, teachers must help students see the more immediate reason for their learning. Taking the time for this is worth the trouble as it can foster motivation, deepen learning and help students make connections.

Additionally, I believe the four R's – rigor, relevance, relationships, and responsiveness– play crucial roles in combating student disengagement. A curriculum with academic rigor, practical relevance, and positive teacher-student relationships can significantly enhance the overall learning experience, fostering greater engagement and enthusiasm among students.

The teacher-student relationship resonates with the influential 2007 article "We Feel, Therefore We Learn" by neuroscientists Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio. While we often acknowledge students bringing emotions to the classroom, we rarely discuss the emotions teachers carry. The study's evidence suggests that cognitive aspects prioritized in schools – learning, attention, memory, decision-making, and social functioning – are profoundly influenced by and integrated into emotional processes, termed emotional thought. This underscores the importance of cultivating emotional intelligence skills in educators, enabling meaningful connections with students beyond being mere course transactors.

To curb student disengagement the most important aspect is how the student feels in a particular class. If the student feels ignored and lacks acknowledgement they will automatically not pay attention in class. A positive student-teacher relationship fosters trust, communication, and a sense of belonging. When students feel valued and understood, they are more likely to be engaged in class. Teachers can tailor their approaches to individual learning styles, provide support when needed, and create a comfortable environment where students feel encouraged to participate. Regular feedback and open communication can also help address individual concerns. This connection enhances motivation and reduces the likelihood of student disengagement.

Trust is fundamental to any successful and productive relationship, and teacher-student relationships are no different. As Thompson (1998) said: “The most powerful weapon available to secondary teachers who want to foster a favorable learning climate is a positive relationship with our students.” Further, enhancing student-teacher relationships can have long-lasting positive implications for students. This is because teachers who nurture trusting relationships with their students cultivate a vibe in their classrooms, facilitating a learning-focused atmosphere that is better placed to meet students' developmental, emotional, and academic needs (Rimm-Kaufman & Sandilos, 2010).

As with all humans; relationships are the foundation of positive results. Everyone wants to feel valued, that their voice matters, and that they are being heard. That translates into a basic human need and in the classroom and working in schools; a foundational component to success. Fostering positive, supportive relationships, while maintaining high expectations sets the stage for success for students and creates a safe and supportive environment where they can thrive.

We need to change our mindset as educators, from sage on the stage to guide at the side. Once we convince ourselves that even the youngest of students have some intelligence, can contribute in a classroom, can add their perspective to a lesson, we can be sure that our classes will become interactive and engaging for our students. It is the feeling 'let me teach you' that must change to one of ' let's learn together'. If only all educators could see this need for change.....

In my experience, the days of pedagogical interventions are now a history. We need to have a self directed learning where students take the responsibility of the same. This approach is called the heutagogical approach. The domain mastery is not enough, the students need to master the skill set as well with not a progressive mindset, but an exponential mindset.

Cultivating agency is a significant part of the learning process. The "a-ha" or lightbulb moment when a student has experienced a breakthrough with understanding a complex problem is the best feeling for the student(s) and teacher. They worked together, they struggled, and they achieved the outcome. It is one of the best feelings in the classroom when I hear a student say, "Oh, now I get it. Let me try it!"

In my opinion teachers do too much of the executive functioning FOR students instead of allowing them to navigate learning for themselves and acting more as a last resort/guide when it comes to independence. Less talk and chalk, more active doing, that’s the key to independence!

One method I use to foster student autonomy in my class is to get their input and involvement in the dissecting and planning a concept-based unit. This increases student engagement in their learning as they are keen to share their ideas, findings and questions about the concept. They I prove their research and communication skills as well as broaden their scope of learning. I find that students come alive and take a deeper interest in how and what they learn about a concept when they are given an opportunity to drive their learning.

Through my work, I see classroom climate as being about the classroom's vibe or energy - what I call: "the learning-focused atmosphere of the classroom experienced by the students". I argue that classroom vibe is built through Teacher’s Credibility and Clarity. This is the result of focusing improvement on behaviours that enhance student sentiment about a teacher’s credibility and clarity, including: • Capacity to build trusting, productive relationships. • Competence as a leader of learning. • Passion in the classroom. • Presence and availability to support student learning. Teacher Clarity: • Ability to organise student learning coherently. • Capacity to introduce new learning. • Support new learning with examples/guided practice.

I agree, but let us not forget to include the students perspective in our learning environments. I am a firm believer in getting feedback from my students on how the room should be arranged as well as providing additional guidelines and class expectations that I may have left off my list. I also believe and have experienced success in my class culture/community when students provide input on the learning environment. They tend to hold each other more accountable when this occurs.

In my experience, administration is unaware that there educators are unhappy about teaching. This lack of happiness then leads to ineffective teaching. Students feel this and from there students are more likely to disconnect. Administration should allow teachers to be seen, heard, and valued in order to renew their enthusiasm. Renewed enthusiasm from teachers about teaching will increase student engagement.

In my experience and research, the pandemic created a problem with disengagement. Teachers say students did not return to school with the same attitudes and mindsets. Teachers who take a more traditional sage on the stage approach do not engage students to the same degree as teachers who create a student-centered collaborative and interactive learning environment. If a teacher is talking more than their students, we know that students become disengaged. Finally, today’s secondary and sometimes younger students spend hours a day watching online videos, social networking and playing video games. Incorporating aspects of familiar environments into innovative learning experiences can also provide some motivation for students to engage.

Ask yourself: are my students actively learning or passively learning? Redesigning your course for active learning may seem daunting, but consider this: instead of having students take turns reading a section from Hamlet followed by a class discussion, try shared reading with pauses every three minutes for paired discussions or responding to question prompts in small groups. Encourage students to actively think, form opinions, judge argument validity, and construct representations of recently learned material. These strategies can transform passive learning into active learning, creating an engaging learning environment and its as simple as interrupting your content delivery to allow time for small group simple tasks.

Lack of cultural competence and understanding dealing with learners from different cultures. I also believe that not following a universal design for learning creates a barrier for students.

I believe that Scholars can absorb all the knowledge that is put in front of them if given the proper guidance. I truly believe that all students should have a mentor that can guide them when things appear and many times are chaotic in their lives. We are now recognizing that (SEL) Social Emotional Learning is needed at all levels of education Pre-K through 12. We need all board members, educators, parents, community partnerships, and all stakeholders to take on this needed problem to ensure our future leaders are well-equipped to handle life challenges with the proper blueprint to address vexations.

I think the answer to this lies heavily on WHERE you are teaching. Demographics plays a huge role in WHY students are disengaged. I work in a Title I school currently and a lot of the disengagement is tied to shame or social/emotional aspects. However, I’ve also worked with wealthy students and the reasons behind disengagement varied greatly. So first ask yourself, “what is my population?” And then you can ask why they are disengaged.

One of the main causes of student disengagement is the lack of experiences OUTSIDE of the classroom and the cell phone INSIDE the classroom.

La théorie de l’autodétermination, développée par Deci et Ryan, suggère que la motivation humaine est influencée par trois besoins psychologiques fondamentaux : l’autonomie, la compétence et la relation sociale. Lorsque ces besoins sont satisfaits, les individus sont plus motivés, engagés et aptes à poursuivre des objectifs de manière autonome. Donc l’élève doit vivre des réussites et se sentir compétent. A défaut de, sa motivation pourrait être affectée et l’élève aura tendance à se désengager. C’est pourquoi la zone proximal de développement est un élément important à considérer.