Dynamics of Effective Teacher-Student Engagement.

To teach is to give students a learning experience. The demands of education in the 21st century requires teachers to view themselves on a journey of continuous learning and refinery other than finished products. Complexities of teaching amidst the simplicity demanded in being a teacher vis-a-vis the experimenting state of education is enough reason for teachers to be open to continuous learning.

EdTalk 360 Teachers Dialogue on Student Engagement under the Ideal Classroom Series found that in Africa and particularly Ghana, most teacher’s conceptual understanding of engagement in the classroom as practiced during teacher-student contact hours centres on Give-Test-Feedback cycle where teachers give to students through verbal information sharing, verbal interrogation (question and answer), call and response (repetitive learning) and exercises. Teachers centred classroom engagement on classroom activities ranging from listening, note taking, doing exercises and having discussions. Though the focus on activities achieves the objective of keeping students busy with the hope that learning is taking place, there is significant difference between undergoing activity and experiencing a process.

Effective student engagement which is one of the principal roles of a teacher requires designing and facilitating learning experiences and opportunities. When teachers teach without giving students a learning experience, the action or series of it can be described as information sharing and not teaching. A true learning experience is a by-product of effective student engagement. A learning experience therefore is an engagement involving a teacher/lead learner(which can be a person, gadget, tool, book, e-platform, etc) and a primary learner whose sense of reflection and reasoning(cognitive processing), attention and concentration(psychological processing), intrinsic motivation (emotional processing) and personal interest are all utilised in the learning process. To give students a learning experience, effective teacher-student engagement is critical. As there are several strategies and dynamics for effective teacher-student engagement, applicability and effectiveness is dependent on the implementer, the learner and the context. Below are a few dynamics that have set the tone for effective teacher-student engagement in the Ghanaian context for all age groups.

• Independence and Interdependence. The strength of classroom engagement lies in collaboration: Interdependence. However, the success of individual learners lies in self-leadership:Independence. The interplay between collaboration and self leadership in the classroom is critical to creating a positive classroom culture and consequently effective student engagement. Teaching and learning processes must centre on reciprocity and teachers developing partnerships with and among learners. Teachers partnership with students will recognize that every student lives in a world; a world that engages them differently and at different levels whilst partnerships among students will map strengths to weaknesses in a way that makes students dependent on each other to achieve group objectives.
• Enquiry Based Learning: To effectively engage today’s learners intellectually, teaching approaches should be enquiry based, applicable to real life and demonstrable. Learning must be situated in action where it becomes as much social as cognitive, requiring judgement and exploration. Teachers must give students the opportunity to explore and find solutions themselves. Students must be challenged to reach their own conclusions and find their own results instead of simply accepting the teacher’s word. Teachers are not expected to work for students but to create dynamic, thought-provoking experiences that fully engages students cognitively, psychologically and emotionally.
• Make Learning Relevant and Relatable. Learning must apply to real-life scenarios whenever possible as opposed to being theoretical and text based. Working with authentic problems and community issues engages students and adds a sense of purpose to the learning experience. Learning tasks must be connected to the world outside the classroom for students to appreciate relevance and engage.
• Employ the Principle of Shared Responsibility. It’s common for teachers to be extremely organized and structured in the teaching and learning process that students loose freedom which in turn reduces the students responsibility to learn and increases the teacher’s responsibility to teach. To employ this principle, teachers can adopt cooperative learning approaches in their lesson delivery or enquiry based learning earlier mentioned. Another effective way to employ the principle of shared responsibility is to allow students to write down what they know about a concept and conduct a research or experiment to verify their knowledge or correct their misconception.
• Modelling. This requires teachers to go beyond verbal information sharing to demonstrating. It includes demonstrating a desired skill or behaviour whilst explaining the actions and decisions made throughout the process. Using imitation and think aloud will maximize student engagement in the modelling process.

How teachers engage students during contact hours is critical to whether learning will take place or not and to what extent. Contact education360gh@gmail.com for further engagement or school demonstration.

Author: Priscilla B. Appiah https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscilla-b-appiah-0b6135119