In this episode, Mark Raffler and Bridget Rieth connect with longtime Kent ISD mentor & author, Ellin Oliver Keene. Ellin’s book, research, and leadership around student engagement inform the topic of today’s podcast. Engaging Children addresses the ongoing challenges and payoffs of centering student engagement as a foundational priority in classrooms and schools. Regardless of grade level or curriculum, students who connect to classroom experiences in meaningful ways are more likely to retain and reapply their learning. Engaged students want to show up and want to learn. They have a greater sense of belonging in the school community and are more able to connect their learning to the outside world in which they live.
Ellin Keene discusses defining and teaching engagement, student-centered practices and ownership, and measuring, discussing, and prioritizing engagement within required curriculum.
Here are some highlights from our conversation:
Engagement is Essential for Retention and Reapplication: The data on learning loss without engagement is "shocking," showing that only between 15% and 20% of kids will carry learning forward if they are not engaged. Educators must prioritize engagement because it directly determines whether students retain and reapply knowledge across time intervals.
Distinguish Between Teacher Motivation and Student Ownership: Motivation is often perceived as something adults do to children, while engagement is something students own, work on, and reconnect themselves with. Teachers need to move away from being constant promoters and instead teach students how to be metacognitive about their engagement, enabling them to recognize when they are disengaged and take action to re-engage.
Utilize the Four Pillars of Engagement: The four pillars-Intellectual Urgency, Emotional Resonance, the Aesthetic World, and Perspective Bending-provide educators and students with a common, shared language for discussing true engagement. Educators should talk about engagement spontaneously and in a planned way, literally naming the type of engagement when it emerges in the classroom to help students wield it as a powerful learning tool.
Student Choice and Ownership is Critical: Choice serves as a hallmark of a student-centered classroom that yields better results. Without choice throughout their day, students are unlikely to remember and reapply what they are taught, which creates tension when teachers must adhere closely to required scripts. Utilizing materials that students love and aesthetically respond to is a powerful way to foster engagement and ownership.
Prioritize Fidelity to the Standard Over Materials: Educators are critical thinkers who should use their artistry to make discerning decisions, supplementing or replacing required tasks, like repetitive graphic organizers, that cause student disengagement. Teachers should also focus on skills grounded in research and adjust instruction accordingly.
Concluding with our normal podcast protocol, we ask for resources for educators to learn more about Engaging Children, Igniting a Drive for Deeper Learning. Check out our podcast resource page for all the links!
We wrap up this episode by asking listeners to share your thoughts on podcast topics - your voice matters! Please visit bit.ly/LLCNtopics to tell us what you want future podcasts to focus on in relation to literacy.
All resources in this LLCN Brief (and future podcasts) can be found at: bit.ly/LLCNresources2526
Subscribe to the Literacy Leadership and Coaches Network podcasts here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/llcnbrief or your favorite podcast platform.
Please note the audio used as an introduction and in transitions in this podcast is under the Creative Common License and attribution is given as follows:Medicine by WinnieTheMoogLink: https://filmmusic.io/song/6256-medicineLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
