Five Paths of Student Engagement: Blazing the Trail to Learning and Success (Your Guide to Promoting Active Engagement in the Classroom and Improving

Book excerpt: This is a breakthrough book on student engagement. Join Dennis Shirley and Andy Hargreaves, two award-winning authors and leaders in their field, on a profound educational quest that will take you through exciting and challenging terrain. Five Paths of Student Engagement will open your eyes, heart and mind and empower you to implement practices that lead directly to your students' well-being, learning, and success. By integrating psychological and sociological perspectives, and using inspiring examples from seven years of research, this book delves deeply into the what, why, and how of student engagement. It reveals who and what the true enemies of student engagement are, and shows you how to defeat them. It will enrich and reward your work for years to come. Utilize research-based strategies to promote active engagement in the classroom and build the foundation for student growth: Learn why active engagement is the new frontier of student achievement. Understand how engaging students means so much more than defeating boredom. Consider psychological and sociological theories that cast new light on engagement and motivation. Reflect on how engagement is about mystery and magic, meaning and purpose, and focus and mastery. Understand why increasing classroom engagement requires much more than surveys, rubrics and observation protocols. Learn strategies to battle all five enemies of engagement in order to engage students totally and motivate unmotivated students. Explore five clear paths of engagement that lead to improving student learning and success that all teachers and schools can embark upon immediately. Contents: Preface Chapter 1: From Achievement to Engagement--Two Ages of Educational Change Chapter 2: Theories of Engagement and Motivation--From Maslow to Flow Chapter 3: Three Myths of Engagement--Relevance, Technology, and Fun Chapter 4: The Five Enemies of Engagement--How to Defeat Them Chapter 5: Standardized Testing--The Archenemy of Engagement Chapter 6: The Five Pathways of Student Engagement--In Theory and Practice Chapter 7: The Promise of Engagement--A Battle for Change References Index