Engaged Learning

Pamela Wilson
BLOG entry 2
LS 589

For more than two hundred years, traditional pedagogy has been based upon two levels. The first of these is knowledge based, which centers upon the memorization and repetition of facts. The second of these is scholastically based which centers upon studies of concepts contained within the disciplines. Students were not encouraged to apply the principles they learned to any meaningful situations (Johnston & Cooley, 2001). Though the previous statements are based upon research, I can attest to the validity of this assessment of traditional educational philosophy because I was educated in this manner. This approach to education resulted in a boring and seemingly irrelevant educational experience. Though I was highly motivated, I did not begin to enjoy my educational experience until I went to college. The effect of the former educational philosophy upon unmotivated or less able students must have been devastating.

Recently, as cognitive research has explored how people learn, we have come to understand that we need to change our methods of pedagogy if we want meaningful learning to occur. Johnston & Cooley (2001), list three findings from cognitive studies about learning. First, learning is more meaningful when it can be associated with prior knowledge and experience. Secondly, meaningful learning occurs when people are given multifaceted learning experiences which allow them to incorporate their own interests into the adventure. And thirdly, people are social learners. There is an emotional component to learning.

According to Johnston & Cooley (2001), the new learning model which has been created because of this research can be described as engaged learning. Engaged learning involves students in “meaningful activities” containing “hands on experience” which is placed in a “multidisciplinary context” involving “critical thinking and problem solving” in a “collaborative learning” situation (p. 12). In other words, the learning experience is taken from being an experience of rote memorization and cerebral understanding to becoming an experience of adventure and discovery. Because many teachers were trained by the old pedagogical philosophy, this new model of learning requires a huge shift in paradigm for these teachers. Some are unwilling to make this shift and continue pedantically preaching the praises of the parameters of the system under which they learned. Other teachers are struggling to make the shift, but being digital immigrants find it difficult. Then there are the young teachers who are wholeheartedly embracing this view of teaching and are using it with apparent success.

Since the concept of engaged learning is relatively new, I have not seen studies of accomplishments of a graduating class which has been taught under this philosophy. This raises a question. Students in the United States are falling behind other countries in educational performance. Many other countries follow the practice of separating students by ability at an early age. Their education is then focused toward their perceived ability. This seems to be working. Will our model of engaged learning be able to catch up and keep pace with the other models of learning in the world? A problem and a strength that we have in the United States is that we hold that all children have a right to an education regardless of ability. We practice inclusion and differentiated instruction which often tends to slow the advanced students down and leave the less advanced students in the dust. Will the model of engaged learning be able to overcome this difficulty for our students? Another problem that we have relates directly to the emotional component of learning. Students that have failed repeatedly under the old pedagogy have negative emotional connotations to learning. They are afraid to become involved in classroom activities because they are afraid of failing once again. Because of the strong emotional component to learning, we teachers have to find a way to serve up enough positive learning experiences to counteract the negative.

Will the model of engaged learning work? Time will tell. Will we be sacrificing yet another generation of children for the sake of educational philosophy? I don’t think so because the model of engaged learning doesn’t throw out the acquisition of facts and concepts. It seeks to attain that goal in a different way and then carry the learning to a higher plane.

Reference
Johnston, M., & Cooley, N. (2001). Supporting new models of teaching and learning through technology. Arlington, Virginia: Educational Research Service.