When thinking about engagement, I recognize that engagement in the classroom is far beyond just simply listening in class, completing their work, and participating in class discussions. Since, a disengaged learner can also be seen doing all of these things as well. Meaningful engagement incorporates students both being able to feel connected to what they are learning and playing an active role in their learning process. For many students staying motivated in their work can stem from their engagement in the content they are learning. It is not uncommon for students to possibly struggle academically because of their personal struggles in that subject. So finding ways to engage students even in subjects they don’t love can be extremely helpful.
My own academic journey has been heavily influenced by my ability to be engaged with my learning. Throughout elementary school, I constantly found myself struggling to stay engaged with the content being taught. Whether it be math, language, science, etc, I was always just looking forward to either gym class or recess. I was fortunate enough to have some very good teachers that wanted me to explore my interests within the scope of what I was learning. Having these opportunities allowed me to bring my own interests into different writing assessments, or projects. As I got older, I continued to find my own interest within my classes that allowed me to become significantly more motivated in my learning because of my own personal interests in what I was learning about.
When I think of my own personal experiences with engagement and my own pedagogy as an educator, I want to find the balance between having that creative freedom while sticking within the curriculum. For instance, as a future history teacher, I want to be able to allow students to have creative freedom with picking their own topics for assessments, instead of me limiting what they are able to research. Having this mindset as a teacher gives students the opportunity to look into particular topics within history that they find interesting. As long as it fits appropriately into the curriculum expectations we are focusing on, I think this is an excellent way to keep students engaged with material, especially when an assessment is attached to it. This also gives students the ability to play that active role in their own learning because they are getting a little bit of freedom in what they want to learn more about.
References:
Singha, Ankita. (2026). Student Engagement: More than Just Participation. 21K School. https://www.21kschool.com/ma/blog/student-engagement/.
LaraE@OTU
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