Creating Engagement: Difference between revisions

Learning is an active process of constructing knowledge and developing understanding. To aid this process, pupils make meaning by connecting new knowledge and concepts to ideas and knowledge they already possess. It is important, therefore, that teachers help pupils use what they already know to make sense of new knowledge. This can be done through looking at or handling objects, telling stories, drawing concept maps, referring to pupils’ experiences or getting pupils to imagine particular scenes. An advantage of this approach is that pupils’ misunderstandings are often revealed and so corrected.

Challenge is about setting high expectations and then teaching to them so pupils surpass previous levels of achievement. Where learning is insufficiently challenging, pupils can lack stimulation and interest so their level of involvement quickly declines. This is true for all levels of ability. One way teachers create the appropriate level of challenge is by providing learning opportunities which are pitched to avoid, on the one hand, boring repetitive work and, on the other, tasks that are totally beyond pupils’ capability. Pupils with special educational needs, in particular, are sometimes provided with very low-level tasks that lack the appropriate stimulation and challenge. Being given the chance to strive to solve challenging problems and think through issues leads to cognitive development and higher achievement for all pupils.

==Cooperative group work==