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Engaging Students in the Global Classroom: Teachers leading the learning

A paper presented at the 2007 International Council on Education for Teaching


conference, San Diego California, July 2007.

Dr Tony Townsend
Chair, Department of Educational Leadership
College of Education
Florida Atlantic University
townsend@fau.edu

We now know a great deal about learning and how teachers might need to behave to
engage students. Increasing student engagement involves teachers increasing their
knowledge about how students learn, and we now have many areas of knowledge that
help us do that, for example, the various types of intelligence, such as emotional
intelligence, (Goleman, 1995), spiritual intelligence (Zohar & Marshall, 2000) and
multiple intelligence (Gardner, Kornhaber, & Wake, 1996) and the brain research. We
also know that students will learn much better if they have their parents and the
community actively supporting them and the schools in which they learn. However, the
work of teachers is critically important in this process. How teachers interact with
students becomes on of the keys to successful student learning and ultimately, student
success. So teacher behavior is an interesting component to consider when looking at
undertaking attempts to maximize student learning.

There seem to be four different basic components of teacher behavior, based on two
different forms of knowledge transmission. The first form of transmission relates to the
content being transmitted and the second is the process by which it is transmitted. In
terms of content, information can be either offered as specific pieces of knowledge or
facts (e.g., two plus two equals four) on the one hand, or larger pieces of information
which might be considered as developing concepts (such as the concept of addition) or
developing processes (such as a mechanism for performing addition). In terms of the
process of transmission, information can be delivered by either telling (providing the
knowledge) or asking (seeking to find the knowledge).

Together, these create four different methods of distributing information, which all
teachers use all of the time. However, each individual method leads to a different form of
learning activity by the student, as below. If a teacher:
tells students to learn facts, it leads to memorization
tells students about concepts/processes, it leads to unquestioned beliefs
asks students questions about facts, it leads to knowledge development
asks students questions about concepts/processes, it leads to understanding.

Figure 1 describes a model that identifies four quadrants based on teachers either telling
or asking and focusing on either specific information or facts or the development of
concepts and processes.
We know that all teachers will spend a proportion of their teaching time in each of the
four quadrants, however, it may be that spending more time in some quadrants than in
others may a impact on the level of learning that the student achieves. An interesting
future research project would be to consider this impact.

Teachers asking

FA AC
Students Students
Knowing Understanding

Facts Concepts/
processes
FT CT
Students Students
Memorizing Believing

Teachers telling

Figure 1. A model for different types of learning

Increasing student engagement also involves changing our focus from curriculum to
people. This refocusing means moving from the current situation where many students
are isolated learners, learning the facts until the exam is over and then forgetting them
forever, to becoming global self-regulated learners. Through engagement where students
are helped to form concepts about the world, and through introspection, where they
examine the values implicit in these concepts, they become global-self regulated
learners (Otero, Chambers, & Sparks, 2000), where instead of needing teachers, the
students need someone able to help them construct their learning environment.

What really changes student learning?


If young peoples learning, instead of them just performing well on standardized tests, is
the end goal, we need to reconsider what this means in a rapidly changing, globalized
world.

Wang, M.C., Haertel, G.D. and Walberg, H.J. (1993/1994, Educational Leadership, pp
74-79) analyzed 179 chapters, conducted 91 research syntheses, interviewed 61
educational researchers, considered 11,000 findings related to student learning. They
identified 28 areas grouped into 6 categories:
Student Aptitude
Classroom Instruction/Climate
Context
Program Design
School Organization
State/District Characteristics

The following specific characteristics are listed in order of their importance to student
learning:
1. Classroom Management 15. Classroom Assessment
2. Metacognitive processes 16. Community Influences
3. Cognitive processes 17. Psychomotor skills
4. Home Environment/Parental 18. Teacher/Administrator
Support Decision Making
5. Student/Teacher social interactions 20. Parent Involvement Policy
6. Social/behavioural attributes 21. Classroom Implementation
7. Motivational/Affective attributes and Support
8. Peer Group 22. Student demographics
9. Quantity of Instruction 23. Out of Class Time
10. School Culture 24. Program Demographics
11. Classroom Climate 25. School Demographics
12. Classroom Instruction 26. State Level Policies
13. Curriculum Design 27. School Policies
14. Academic Interactions 28. District Demographics

If we look at the top five elements that contribute to student learning, it becomes obvious
that it is what happens in the classroom and the home that is critical to an individual
student reaching their potential. The students ability to learn, the way in which the
classroom is organized and managed and the relationships between student, teacher and
parent are the keys to learning.

The past decade has seen massive changes at the state and school levels by various
restructuring activities, but few that have tried to change what happens in classrooms. Yet
as Ashenden (1994: 13) argues:

The greatest single weakness in these reforms is that they stop at the classroom
door. The classroom is the students workplace. It is, in essence, a 19th-century
workplace - much more humane and interesting but recognisably the same place. It
is an inefficient and inequitable producer of the old basics and simply incompatible
with the new.

If we are concerned about helping students to learn then, there are three major issues for
educators. The first is having an appropriate curriculum for a rapidly changing world, the
second is to engage every student in this curriculum and the third is to enable the student
to build a positive relationship to learning, so that they can become a lifelong learner.
Since curriculum issues are dealt with in many other places, I wish to focus on the last
two of these, the issue of engagement, which considers the brain research and how
students learn, and the issue of relationships, which consider ways in which teachers
might connect in a meaningful way with their students.

In some respects it is building a positive relationship to learning that is most important,


after all, students will spend less than 3% of their lifetime in school. It might also be
argued that under the current system of accountability, with structured curriculum based
on specific standards and the continuous testing of student knowledge of that curriculum,
that building a positive relationship to learning is the thing we spend the least time on.

Student Engagement
The recent research into the brain has helped us to better understand why some students
succeed and others seem to fail at everything. It would be fair to say that the brain is the
most powerful computer in existence and that we have only scratched the surface of what
we can know about it. What we do know is that the brain has about 100 billion brain cells
called neurons, each of which can communicate with every other one leading to trillions
of interactions every year. What we also know is that whenever we think in a particular
way a coating of fat called myelin builds up on the neurons associated with that way of
thinking. This fat speeds up the process of chemical and electrical exchanges by up to
twelve times. Thus we are able to respond to something we have thought about before
much faster than something we are thinking about for the first time. Thus we can tie our
shoelaces much quicker now than when we first tried it.

We also now know that the brain develops itself into certain structures, based on the way
we think. So if we have a tendency to think negatively about some things, it builds a
tendency to think negatively about most things. We have a tendency to look for the
negative, even in things that are positive, because our brain has practice at dealing with
those feelings.

The brain has three different speeds of thinking, automatic reaction, which involves no
thought at all (so when we touch a hot stove, we pull our hand away without thinking),
deliberation, which involves conscious thought and decision making and contemplation,
which involves deeper thought and consideration. Like a leak in the roof, once the track
has been established, there is a tendency for things to go down the same track again and
again. Thus if a person responds emotionally to external stimuli, then there is a tendency
to always do that. The fact that the emotional part of the brain is mature at birth and the
logical part of the brain only matures at age 2, gives emotional responses a head start.
Some people become so practiced at an emotional response that they do it most of the
timewithout thinking. Thus some people are considered impulsive, others
thoughtful and yet others find it hard to make decisions or take actions without
considerable thoughtalmost to the stage where they become inactive.

For students who are perceived as being non-learners, the task is to teach them how they
can set up new pathways towards more positive concepts about schools, learning,
teachers and themselves. The underlying assumptions about the connection between a
stimulus, our perceptions, our emotions and our behaviour are contained in the two
figures detailed on the next two pages. In figure 1, which identifies habitual behaviour, a
person picks up the vibes that he senses in the environment, then habitually responds in
the same way that he has previously. It is a simple matter of stimulus-response without
thought. The stimulus triggers our memories and our imagination, our memories of what
happened in the past and our imagination of what might (or is likely to) happen in the
future, based on that stimulus.

For instance, in the first diagram, if a student sees a particular teacher (the stimulus), this
will trigger memories of past experiences with that teacher (or even memories of teachers
in general). It will also lead to imagining what might happen in regards to interactions
with that teacher in the future. These three things (stimulus, memory, imagination), create
our current perception or understanding of our situation. Our perception of the situation
leads to our emotional state. If the students perception of the current situation is positive,
then his/her emotional state will be positive as well. If the perception is one of threat or
fear, then the emotional state will be negative. Thus, in a matter of micro-seconds the
student will have made a judgement based on the stimulus and will feel either positive
(calm) or negative (agitated) about themselves and their situation.

The brain research tells us if we respond to a particular stimulus in a particular way, there
is a greater tendency to do the same thing the next time that stimulus appears. We
become habitually responsive. The emotional response to the stimulus depends on how
we see ourselves and the world outside and this can become predominantly positive
(optimist) or predominantly negative (pessimist). An optimistic student can deal with or
withstand the infrequent negative things that happen, but a pessimistic student sees things
as just one more issue sent to trouble them. Thus, with habitual behaviour, and what the
brain research tells us, if a student responds badly to a particular teacher on one day, the
stimulus initiated by that teacher coming into the room is likely to elicit a similar
response the following day.

The problem is, we have a tendency to think that students are the only ones with habitual
behaviour, when nothing could be further from the truth. Teachers also have habitual
behaviour, which can be triggered by the response of students (it becomes the teachers
external stimulus). Thus a student who sees a teacher they have a problem with in the
corridor is likely to habitually respond by trying to avoid the teacher and perhaps sneak
past. But teachers who see students trying to sneak past them also habitually respond by
stopping them and asking them what they are doing. This habitual response by the
teacher elicits further habitual response by the student and so on, and each habitual
response generates increasing frustration in both parties.

What then happens is that the teacher and the student both construct stories about their
situation. The teacher might think He comes from a disadvantaged family, Hes a
troublemaker or He doesnt want to learn and the student might think I cant learn or
He hates me. The stories then proceed to get in the way of subsequent learning. The
whole stimulus-response (behaviour) mechanism becomes habitual and is continually
reinforced over time as both teachers and students respond in the same way to each other
as they did previously. Perhaps worse still is that teachers share their stories with other
teachers (and students do too) and the sharing of these stories creates habitual behaviour
in other teachers (and students) towards students (and teachers) they might never have
met before. The individual story soon becomes one that is accepted by the whole school.
Only the teacher has the power to change this process, by not responding habitually
themselves, and then by teaching students the secret to intelligent behaviour as well. In
figure 2, there has been an intelligent response to the environment. In this instance, the
student has been taught to reinterpret, or determine, the environment and the subsequent
perceptions, emotions and actions, by asking appropriate questions that support and
strengthen them, even in situations that might initially be interpreted as threatening.

The implication for teacher education of this new knowledge is that all teacher education
students need to have a thorough understanding of the brain, how it works and how its
workings affect learning in classrooms. Since learning only occurs in the brain, then a full
understanding of the brain is imperative if teachers are to have a full understanding of
learning.
Figure 1: A Model to explain Habitual Behavior

Environment interpreted by senses

Stimulus

Thoughts Thoughts

Memory Imagination
(the Past) (the Future)

Thoughts Thoughts

Perception
(the Present)

Emotion
(the Driver)

Action

The Story
Figure 2: A Model to explain Intelligent Behavior

Questions about the Environment

Stimulus

Thoughts Thoughts

Memory Imagination
(the Past) (the Future)

Thoughts Thoughts

Perception
(the Present)

Emotion
(the Driver)

Action

A Different Story
Positive relationships
The last issue I wish to address is the way in which teachers can support student learning
by establishing meaningful relationships, not only to the teacher, but to learning itself.
There are some students who, no matter how hard teachers try, seem to be impossible to
reach. Some students are identified as good learners and others are considered to be
non-learners. Yet there is no such thing as a non-learner, there are people who learn
things that are different (sometimes in contradiction) to what teachers are teaching.

The work of Randall Clinch with students who are struggling to succeed at school has
been given a high level of national publicity in Australia. Put simply, the activity is aimed
at developing a skill-driven process that empowers individuals to integrate their thinking,
feeling and acting in order to lead productive and rewarding lives. In Clinchs words, "the
main skill I am endeavouring to develop in young people is the capacity to choose their
own thoughts. Clarity of thought leads to peace and inner strength. What they do with
this skill is up to them, but they are unlikely to find hope or any sense of future without
it." (Clinch, 2001)

There is no such thing as a non-learner, there are people who learn things that are
different (sometimes in contradiction) to what teachers are teaching. Perhaps if we want
to get to the heart of why some students are successful and others are not, it gets down to
the ability to think. But it is not, as we previously believed, that some people are better
thinkers than others, since the brain research suggests that the process is the same for all
of us, perhaps the difference between successful and unsuccessful students is what they
think about.

To establish some base-line data, we conducted a study to look at some of the perceptions
that young people (15 year-olds) have about concepts associated with school. Students
were asked to write their answers to a number of questions onto a worksheet. The
questions were:
What is your concept of school?
What is your concept of teacher?
What is your concept of student?
What is your concept of learning?
What is your concept of your future?
What is your concept of yourself?

Teachers were asked to identify students as being good learners, poor learners or
somewhere in the middle. The results indicated that students identified as poor learners
all thought in a similar way and responded to the questions with similar responses.
Students who were identified as good learners also responded in a similar way, but with a
different set of responses. Students who were identified as being middle of the road
learners sometimes responded in ways that struggling students did and at other times
responded in ways similar to good students. A selection of responses to give an
indication of how good learners and struggling learners think differently about things are
listed below.
Question asked Struggling students response Successful students response
What is a concept? idea Idea
opinion Something you think about
What is your concept drive through brainwash Safe environment to learn
of school? centre and gain new skills
drive through office Somewhere where you
a piece of beeeep learn and make friends
where students learn how
to survive
What is your concept hate them all, DIE To teach and be a mentor
of teacher? a bitch Someone who teaches you
some are good some different things
arent Helps you with knowledge
teachers are here to teach Someone who respects
us not scream at the class students
What is your concept Students should learn To learn and put effort in
of student? what they need not all this Someone who learns what
crap the teacher is teaching
Shithead People who would like to
A well mannered kid (not learn - can be any age
bloody likely) Someone who respects
other students and teachers
What is your concept a piece of rubbish that the To take in everything and
of learning? government can stick up their put it into my life
asses Knowing stuff in all topics
getting work stuck in your Something everyone goes
head through every day
there is no learning To get smarter
What is your concept a better one if I leave this To go to university and
of your future? hole in year 10 study medicine
crap Determined by how much I
If I continue to go to this learn at school
school I wont have a Good job, great family
future
I dont have a future
What is your concept I failed Willing to learn and take
of yourself? I can learn everything in
I dont know I am a good and nice
person, sensible, smart,
clever
I am OK
A balanced girl 50% good -
50% bad
These responses suggest that the strategy to be used if students were to move from being
poor learners to good learners is one of helping them to build new concepts about
themselves, about school and about learning.

For this, the issue of questioning is very important. Clinch argues that all our responses to
the external world are determined by our two base level emotions, which he identifies as
love and fear. If we love something we respond in a completely different way than if
we feared something. He argues all our important memories are available to use and are
stored in two sets of filing cabinets, one that keeps all our positive memories which he
identifies as love and one that keeps all our negative memories which he calls fear.
The questions we ask can unlock the filing cabinet and we can access those memories at
will. By asking the right questions we can create positive feelings, which are much more
likely to elicit positive behavior. Clinch has developed and refined a process that can be
used by teachers for whole classes. The process involves students spending some time
considering a range of questions and discussing them with the teacher and with other
students. There are four levels of questions that are important in learning. Three of them
are based on the time of the event we are thinking about (past, present and future) and the
fourth is based on the value that the experience has had for us.

Positive Emotion Negative Emotion


What excites us? Future What excites us?
What do we enjoy? Present What is boring for us?
What rewards us? Past What makes us feel guilty?
What satisfies us? Value What frustrates us?

Thus we get excited about things in the future, but having a birthday party tomorrow
leads to a difference sort of excitement than if we had a mathematics test tomorrow. At
the next level, we enjoy doing things now, if they are positive (eg watching a movie), but
if they are negative (doing something we dont want to dosuch as studying for the
mathematics test) it is hard for us to focus our attention on it and is boring. At the third
level, we are rewarded for doing things well (such as getting a good mark), but we feel
guilty when we finish things and we know we could have done better. Finally, we are
satisfied when we know the things we have done have been valued (by ourselves or
others) but get frustrated when our efforts relate to something that no-one seems to value.

By asking the right questions we can create either positive feelings, which is much more
likely to have positive behaviour following. For many students who are school refusers,
guilt is the most likely external question (Why didnt you do your homework?) and
frustration is the most likely outcome. If we can get teachers to ask the right questions,
we can have more positive outcomes. In the event that students have to deal with teachers
who dont know how to use the right questions, training students to ask them for
themselves can deliver intelligent behaviour. When this happens the students are in
control of their learning and their own destiny in a positive way.

Clinch argues that to make every student a learner we need to develop five concepts,
learning, teacher, school, self and future. The concept of learning needs to be the ability
to gain knowledge and the ability to do something today I couldnt do yesterday. The
concept of teacher becomes someone who facilitates or shares the learning. The concept
of school is that of a place of learning. The concept of self is 'I am a learner' and the
concept of future is something that hasnt happened yet, but I am looking forward to. Of
these five, the two most important are 'learning' because that is how we know everything
we know and 'future' because that is where the emotion of hope resides.
The implications for teacher education and teacher educators from this is that if teachers
are to be able to create an environment where they support the development of positive
concepts of learning for their students, then they must experience this themselves in their
own learning. To this, teacher educators need to provide an environment that focuses on
teaching by questioning.

References

Ashenden, Dean (1994) 'An Odd Couple? Social Justice. Performance Indicators.' A
public lecture sponsored by the Victorian State Board of Education, Melbourne,
Australia.

Clinch, R (2001) Secret Kids Business, Melbourne, Hawker-Brownlow.

Codding, J. (1997) Designing Highly Effective Programs for Successful Schools. A


keynote presentation at the Successful Schools Conference, Melbourne, June 3.

Gerstner, L., Semerad, R., Doyle, D. & Johnston, W (1994) Reinventing Education:
Americas Public Schools, New York, Dutton.

Hargreaves, D. (1994) The Mosaic of Learning: Schools and Teachers for the New
Century, London, Demos.

Hood, D. (1998) Our Secondary Schools dont work anymore, Auckland, Profile Books

Stoll, L. (1997) Successful Schools: Linking School Effectiveness and School


Improvement. A keynote presentation at the Successful Schools Conference, Melbourne,
June 3.

Stoll, L. and Fink, D., (1998) The Cruising School: The Unidentified Ineffective School
in Stoll, L. and Myers, K. (eds) No Quick Fixes: Perspectives on Schools in Difficulty,
London, Falmer Press.

Wang, M.C., Haertel, G.D. and Walberg, H.J. (1993/1994) What helps students learn?
Educational Leadership, Winter, 1993/94, pp 74-79)

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