Active engagement techniques

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Active engagement techniques

• Andy Luxton
• Priory Community School

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What is active engagement?

• People learn best when they are interested,
  involved and appropriately challenged by their
  work when they are engaged with their learning.

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What are the benefits?

• Pupils will
• have a longer concentration span
• complete work on time
• stay on-task and have few behaviour problems
• maintain a good attendance record.

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What happens without active engagement?

• Behavioural problems
• Lower attainment
• Wrong option choices
• Limited career choices
• Criminal records imprisonment

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The difference between
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How can you actively engage learners?

• be clear about the purpose and relevance of their
  work
• relate new knowledge and experiences provided
  during lessons to something they already
  understand
• experience some variety in the way information is
  presented during lessons
• experience activities that generate curiosity and
  interest
• ask questions and try out ideas
• see what they have achieved and how they have
  made progress
• understand how they are thinking and learning
• get a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment from
  their work
• build positive images of themselves as learners

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What are the principles for creating engagement?

• Activating prior knowledge
• Challenge
• Cooperative group work
• Metacognition
• Modes of representing information
• Scaffolds

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How have I done this?

• The Big Picture
• Key question Every lesson, every unit
• Visual starter Guy Fawkes/Bacterium
• Simulation Feudal system pyramid
• Drama Thomas Becket / News report
• Scaffold William Assessment
• Video 4 Quarters / Questions

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The Big Picture / Key Questions
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Visual Starter
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Simulation Feudal System
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Role Play Court Case
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What else helps active engagement?

• Good teacher-pupil relationships
• Show enthusiasm and care
• Praise all positive contributions
• Listen to all points of view
• Tell jokes / inject humour
• Physical environment
• Play music
• Colourful displays interesting posters and
  pupils work
• Establish clear aims and routine
• Pupils know what they should be doing, and what
  they will get out of it

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What are DARTs?

• Directed activities related to text
• Highlighting key information
• Completing diagrams and tables
• Classifying pieces of information into different
  categories
• Putting text into different forms mindmaps,
  lists, tables, images

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How can you use drama to actively engage pupils?

• Use of props as stimuli
• Speculative language to help empathise
• Reenactment (play/freeze frame/mime)
• Hot-seating, in character
• Teacher or pupils in role

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What should you do now?

• Does your classroom promote active engagement?
• Do you have rapport with your pupils?
• Do your lessons meet Priory expectations? 4
  parts, links to previous learning, challenging
  all learners
• Do you vary TLS?