What is the right word to describe the experience of learning?
When you’re in school or at work, you might be thinking about the learning experience in terms of grades you get or which teacher you get on next. But what about your experience? How do you feel about what you’re learning? How do you feel about the process of learning?
In the world of education, the word ‘engagement’ is used to describe the way in which students interact with their environments and each other while learning. Essentially, students are ‘engaged’ in an activity when they’re focused on the task at hand and behaving in a socially appropriate manner.
Researchers have found that high levels of student engagement are correlated with increased productivity, as well as enhanced critical and creative thinking, which can lead to higher grades.
Even in childhood, students can be ‘engaged’ in interesting activities that encourage social and emotional development. When children are faced with new and challenging situations, they can begin to explore their strengths and weaknesses, as well as learn from the experiences.
So how can you encourage student engagement in your classroom? What does engagement look like in practice?
Make Learning Relevant To Life
From day one, a student’s education should be focused on preparing them for the real world. One way to do this is to make sure that learning is relevant to students’ everyday lives. Of course, this couldn’t be more relevant than in a digital age where information is easily accessible via the internet.
If you’re going to educate someone, why not choose an area of study that they’re passionate about? To give an example, if you’re educating students about history, why not choose a specific time period or event that they’re interested in?
Additionally, you can use games and activities to engage students. For example, if you’re teaching English, you might want to create a spelling bee or a word scramble.
Establish Clear Learning Goals And Achievements
Setting and achieving clear goals is an essential part of any successful educational program. This is especially important with regard to the learning experience, as you can’t measure it in the same way you can a test or an exam. Instead, you have to look at a range of factors, such as interaction, participation, and achievement. Additionally, setting and meeting these goals should be reflected in the language that you use when describing the program to other people.
Provide The Proper Learning Environment
Another important factor to consider when describing the learning experience is the physical location of where you’re teaching. You might have the best curriculum in the world, but if the classroom environment isn’t right, the experience for the student won’t be fully absorbed.
Depending on the age of the students, you might want to consider the type of lighting and temperature in the room. For younger students, a softer light and a cool room can help to make learning more relaxing, which might encourage better results. Older students may benefit from a darker room with a table lamp to give the illusion of distance and allow for better focus.
Also, you can provide whiteboards or other surfaces for students to brainstorm ideas on and draw or doodle on to help promote creativity and problem-solving skills. You might want to think about getting a whiteboard for the classroom wall so that everyone can see what’s going on and participate.
Make Sure Students Feel Valued And Loved
When you love your students, they’ll feel loved and valued, and this can encourage them to achieve their full potential. To establish this type of relationship, you could start by showing them that you value their opinions and ideas. Additionally, you can say ‘thank you’ whenever someone comes up with an idea that helps you improve the classroom environment or program.
Encourage Self-expression
Every student has a unique voice and style, and you can encourage them to express this in a way that helps them to grow as people. One way to do this is by allowing them to make mistakes and to learn from these mistakes. Additionally, you can give them an opportunity to be creative and to create something unique that they can call their own. If you want to encourage students to express themselves, provide a safe place for them to do this.
Create A Space For Self-reflection
One of the most important things that you can do for your students is to provide a place for them to reflect. Sometimes we rush through life without stopping to think about what we’ve learned or what we could do differently. If you want your students to engage in this type of thinking, you could give them a moment every day or every other day where they can stop and think about what they’ve learned or need to improve on. You might want to think about creating a little ‘quiet time’ during which they can settle down and relax.
Incorporate Confidence Building And Stress Management Techniques
Confidence is an important part of a student’s growth and development. Even when we’r students are feeling secure and loved, they can still encounter situations that make them feel nervous or anxious. Incorporating confidence building and stress management techniques into your educational program can help to improve the overall experience for your students.
For example, you can tell students that you appreciate their courage and that you’re confident they’ll be able to deal with whatever comes their way. Additionally, you can model appropriate behavior for your students by demonstrating how you would behave in a similar situation. If you want to encourage students to speak up and be proud of who they are, you can start by showing them that you believe in them.
These tips may not sound like they belong in the educational field, but establishing a proper learning environment can help make a real difference. By adding these elements, you can ensure that your students feel cared for and valued as individuals while also learning to become confident and productive members of society.