Chapter 1, page 8
engaged students; more engaged students are also more satisfied and more positive about school (Phyllis
C. Blumenfeld, Kempler, & Krajcik, 2006; Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; N. E. Perry, Turner, &
Meyer, 2006). Engagement is a valuable goal in its own right, as most teachers want students to be
satisfied and motivated to participate in class. Engagement is also valuable in that it helps promote other
goals, such as understanding and transfer.
This modern view of engagement contrasts with a common view that says that students are
engaged if and only if they are listening or working quietly. I recently led a workshop for middle school
teachers in which I introduced them to teaching methods that engage students in active debate and inquiry.
During the workshop, several of the teachers disclosed that administrators in their district discouraged any
such activities because they believed that students need to be quiet in order to learn. There is no doubt that
quiet listening and individual work has a place in effective instruction. But research on both learning and
motivation has shown that learning must be active to be effective (Phyllis C. Blumenfeld et al., 2006; A.
L. Brown et al., 1983; J. S. Krajcik & Blumenfeld, 2006). If students only hear and read ideas, they will
not learn as much as if they also talk and write about those ideas (D. L. Schwartz & Martin, 2004);
sometimes students will get a little noisy as they are engaged in group discussions on academic topics.
Figure 1.2 illustrates the importance of active, engaged learning. If students simply read the
statements in Figure 1.2, they learn less than if they visualize these facts vividly in their mind’s eye, or if
they try to explain these facts to themselves (Ozgungor & Guthrie, 2004; Willoughby, Wood, McDermott,
& McLaren, 2000; Woloshyn, Pressley, & Schneider, 1992). If students vividly imagine the facts or
explain them to themselves, they are more actively engaged in the learning process, and they learn more
than if they simply read the facts without actively visualizing or explaining the facts. In general, learning
is more effective when students are actively engaged in mental activities that use ideas—creating visual
images, talking about the ideas, writing about them, and so on. Therefore, an essential goal for teachers is
to learn to develop instruction that actively engages students in learning processes.
Two chapters in Unit 4 focus especially on engagement: Chapters 10 (Creating Engaged Classes)
and 11 (Classroom Management). Chapter 10 focuses on motivational practices that enhance engagement.
Chapter 11 focuses on how teachers can manage classrooms to reduce discipline problems and increase
engagement. The remaining four chapters in Unit 4 also touch regularly on engagement. The instructional
practices we discuss in Chapters 11 through 14 are all designed to promote student engagement in addition
to other goals.