Little-by-little!

More students seem to be more fully engaged

As part of my work, I have the opportunity to observe student feedback responses to individual teachers and also responses aggregated by year level or learning area.  In schools that gather this data regularly, and these are the schools I see, I observe gradual year-by-year increases in the average response.

A closer look suggests that this average is rising as more students feel that their needs are being fully met – and therefore they are fully engaged - and fewer students are feeling completely disengaged.

Clearly, teachers are the main driver of this change. They are behaving in ways that more closely meet their students’ needs. Their relationships with their students are more meaningful, in their students’ view.

I cannot know if this is a general trend (although I think it probably is) or if it is occurring because students are able to provide their experiences as an input into teacher reflection and subsequent action, gradually shifting behaviour.  I am sure that having this input is significant, given what I observe.

Relationships are one of the major ways we gain meaning in our lives so it is not surprising that I am seeing these effects as relationships become more salient as an area for development.

I feel that we can do so much more though, in putting this development on a sounder and systematic footing.

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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