Engagement Strategies from teachertrap.com

For those days when your batteries are low and you need to come up with some new learning strategies…

There seems to be an unwritten assumption when training teachers that they should be the masters/mistresses of their subject. This presupposes that subject knowledge is paramount.

In terms of teaching and learning this idea is completely false.

When you face your first class you will quickly realise that it is not what you know, but how you can organise learning opportunities that will determine how much they will engage and how effectively they will learn with you.

To this end much more of teacher training, and ongoing continuous professional development needs to focus on learning strategies for the classroom which give students much more autonomy and self direction in their learning. If you can achieve purposeful learning in small groups, it takes you away from the front of the class, where everyone has to move at a pace determined by you. This represents real empowerment and choice for students, and buys you time to work with those requiring extra support to extend or consolidate their learning.

I found this infographic (and others in the Learning Renaissance blog) really useful as an aide memoire when building purposeful lesson plans.  I suggest you develop a compendium of such ideas.

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About educationalist04

I'm convinced we can, as a species, do much better than this if we set our minds to being much more positive and productive towards our fellow humans. The solution is learning - creating independent and autonomous learners who can problem solve, innovate and create a better more equitable and sustainable world. My books, Future Proof Your School and Re-Examining Success together with this blog, explore how better learning outcomes for all can be achieved.

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