Equitable Engagement
Learners voice ideas and perspectives freely and equitably, ensuring each individual is an active contributor to the community.
Tier 1: This Look For is one of seven that represents Quality First Instruction for all learners.
WELL-DEVELOPED LEARNERS
Engage collaborative discussion to process, share, and receive feedback
Evidence of Learner Behaviors
Share openly through a pre-established protocol or process during a lesson experience
Receive feedback, from a peer or the learning facilitator, about sharing dialogue or participation
Questions to Ask Learners
What are ways you participate in this class?
Encourage peers to share ideas, thoughts, and dialogue in group discussions as well as written work
Evidence of Learner Behaviors
Ask a classmate to share an idea with the whole class that they already shared with the group
Show how they use Google Docs or other tools to discuss and collaborate in written work
Questions to Ask Learners
How do you participate in group discussions?
How do your classmates participate in group discussions?
Express a sense of fairness in how the learning facilitator interacts with all learners during instruction
Evidence of Learner Behaviors
Articulate a process their learning facilitator uses to call for responses from the class
Express that all learners have a chance to speak
Questions to Ask Learners
What ways does your learning facilitator ask for input during lessons and instruction?
How do learners get your learning facilitator's attention?
THE RESEARCH SHOWS
What a learner thinks, feels, or does leads to new knowledge, habits, and dispositions. When engagement is high, learners pay greater attention and demonstrate increased persistence. Enjoyment and/or success in one situation means they’re more likely to be engaged in other situations and while performing other tasks.
MINDSETS
Engagement translates motivation into learning. Designing situations to maximize engagement for all learners increases the likelihood that learners will retain new knowledge and skills and they will be more likely to persist through challenging situations.
Educator Actions
Learning facilitators ensure learners are equitably participating in and contributing to the learning community.
CSTPs: 2.2, 2.6, 6.1
QUICK WIN
Use clear, transparent methods to engage all learners during instruction. This can be Kagan protocols for cooperative learning, online name generators that pull from the class list, or structured partners for peer review, discussion, and feedback.
The more all learners have a voice in the discussion and learning, the more empowered they will feel!
LESSON-PLANNING AND DESIGN STRATEGIES
Facilitate activities that give each learner time and opportunity to engage (P/F)
Communicate the expectation that each learner is an active contributor to discussions and dialogue, realizing that “active” could come in many forms (e.g., verbal comments, written synthesis) (P/F)
Track and review participation data — both ahead of time and in the moment — to identify actively and passively disengaged learners and respond appropriately (P/F)
Have 1:1 conversations with actively and passively disengaged learners during learning time (F)
Circle back to learners when they are reluctant to engage with the community to understand the root cause of their disengagement and adjust strategies to ensure inclusive engagement for all types of learners (F)
Intervene when class dialogues are not distributed so that all members of the community are able to engage equally (F)
P = planned F = facilitated spontaneously
