BENEFITS OF ENGAGEMENT

EVANGELINE C. GARCIA

According to research, students who are more “engaged” have improved academic achievement and satisfaction. They are also more likely to persist through academic struggles and earn higher test scores, and have better social skills and are less likely to drop out of school.

When can we know then, when students are engaged?

According to Adam Fletcher, “Students are engaged when they are attracted to their work, persist despite challenges and obstacles, and take visible delight in accomplishing their work.”

Disengaged students, on the other hand, have lower cognitive performance, increased disruptive behaviors which cause academic avoidance behavior. They also have learning, behavior, and emotional problems and increased absenteeism and dropout rates.

Award-winning researcher Kristy Cooper had named three well-supported strategies that teachers can employ to increase student engagement.

First is lively teaching which involves group work, games, and projects, where the emphasis is on the students constructing knowledge and not on the teacher delivering content.

Second is academic rigor, where the instructor creates cognitively demanding tasks and environments, emphasizing that students will need to work hard.

Next is connective instruction, where the teacher helps students make personal connections to the class, content, and learning.

-oOoThe author is Teacher II at Mancatian Elementary School