Abstract:
In this phenomenological study, I explored perceptions about student engagement from secondary English teachers in Southwest Georgia, including their perceptions of their roles in relationship to student engagement. In addition, the confidence and enjoyment levels of participants in relationship to level of student engagement were examined. Traditionally, student engagement has been a construct researched with more focus on students’ attitudes about and involvement with classroom engagement. Therefore, teachers’ voices have been somewhat marginalized in the debate about how to get our students more engaged in learning and instruction. However, despite educators’ lack of significant input into this discussion of student engagement, which affects gains in academic achievement and graduation rate, teachers know what to look for and know what to do to increase student engagement. I also identified a lack of uniformity and consistency on the part of educators to implement effective teaching strategies that promote active student engagement from all students.
Six current or former English teachers in the same high school in Southwest Georgia participated in the study; four females and two males. Their years of teaching experience ranged from 3 to 33 years and their ages ranged from 24 to 65 years old.
In this study, I collected three types of data: individual interviews, a focus group interview, and field note observations. These methods combined added to the credibility and wealth of descriptive data collected. I examined each data source thoroughly during first and second coding cycles.
To meet the challenges that confront educators and school systems and to provide a quality education for all students, a consistent focus must be placed on the implementation of effective, student-centered strategies that all teachers can use to cultivate student ownership and academic success in any secondary classroom. Participants described five major components to student engagement: (a) active student participation, (b) student connections, (c) instructional technology tools, (d) student characteristics, and (e) teacher engagement.