Where Student, Teacher, and Content Meet: Student Engagement in the Secondary School Classroom.

Abstract

AbstractThe degree to which students think, feel, and act engaged in plays a vital role in their chances for academic and life success, yet levels of student engagement remain low. In this article, we focus specifically on how engagement works in the classroom, namely as a function of the interactions between students, teachers, and the class content. We propose a model in which student engagement in the classroom can be understood as emanating from the relationships between students and teachers; teacher levels of content and pedagogical expertise; and the degree to which students see the class content as relevant to their current interests, future goals, and identities.A wealth of research supports the notion that student engagement leads to a variety of desirable academic and life outcomes (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2004). The more students are engaged in their schoolwork, the more likely they are to perform well academically, obtaining higher grades in their classes and higher scores on standardized tests. Student engagement has been directly linked to reduced high dropout rates. Students who are more engaged in are more likely to attend, and eventually graduate from, college. Some scholars have further suggested that promoting engagement can help shrink achievement gaps (Lee & Shute, 2009).Unfortunately, research into student engagement and motivation reveals that up to 60% of high students are chronically (Klem & Connell, 2004). In a large-scale national survey of American middle and high students, the Quaglia Institute for Aspirations (2013) found that more than half of high students are bored at school, and less than half enjoy being there. According to the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2004), out of high is for many students the last step in a long process through which students become disengaged from school (p. 24). Dropping out is highly likely to have serious negative long-term consequences, such as difficulty finding employment and reduced quality of life. According to the U.S. Department of Education, in October 2009 approximately three million 16- to 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school, nor had they earned a high diploma or alternative credential (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KewalRamani, 2011). Moreover, levels of disengagement typically increase as students progress through school; the longer students are in school, the less engaged they are (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998).Greater engagement in has also been linked to various indicators of individual well-being. Students who are engaged behaviorally, cognitively, and/or emotionally in are more likely to feel better about themselves, be satisfied with their lives, and enjoy higher work quality later in life (Gallup, 2013). Moreover, they are less likely to engage in delinquency, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior (Antaramian, Huebner, Hills, & Valois, 2010; O'Farrell & Morrison, 2003).Taken together, there is much evidence for the individual benefits of student engagement, and these benefits extend to teachers as well. When a classroom is filled with students who are paying attention, focused, participating, mentally stimulated, and having fun, the teacher is much more likely to enjoy being there and to feel more invested, and is less likely to experience burnout (Covell, McNeil, & Howe, 2009). Additionally, when engagement is high and disciplinary issues are minimal, more of the teacher's time and effort can be spent on promoting learning, and less on managing distractions. Student engagement has benefits not only for the individual students and teachers, but the entire learning environment.What We Mean by Student EngagementThe term engagement in reference to schooling has been defined in many different, and sometimes inconsistent, ways. …

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