From the Center’s Clearinghouse . . . * A Resource Aid Packet on School Engagement, Disengagement, Learning Supports, & School Climate *The Center is co-directed by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor and operates under the auspices of the School Mental Health Project, Dept. of Psychology, UCLA. Address: Center for Mental Health in Schools, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563 Phone: (310) 825-3634 | Fax: (310) 206-8716 | E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu Preface It is a given that teachers and student support staff are faced with a complex continuum of learner motivation. This fact requires schools to provide a range of ways to enhance engagement. Student engagement involves not only engaging and maintaining engagement, but also re-engaging those who have disconnected from classroom instruction. For school personnel to do all this effectively, they must broaden their understanding of motivation, especially intrinsic mitivation, and the complex relationship between extrinsics and intrinsics. To this end, there is a growing body of literature to draw upon. Unfortunately, maintaining engagement is a widespread problem in schools. For those students who become disengaged from classroom learning, the disconnection is both symptomatic of one or more causal factors and an additional factor exacerbating learning, behavior, and emotional problems. Clearly, a prominent focus of school improvement efforts should be on how to (a) motivate the many students who are hard to engage and (b) re-engage those who have totally disengaged from classroom learning. Of particular concern is what teachers should do when they encounter a student who has disengaged and is misbehaving. In many ways, these matters are at the core of enhancing school climate. Our Center continuously stresses the importance of a focus on motivation, especially intrinsic motivation, in all facets of our work. In this context, we have developed a variety of resources intended to help advance the efforts of those working in and with schools. The following resource aid was originally developed as the winter 2011 edition of our quarterly newsletter/journal. We hope you find the contents useful and will share this aid with your colleagues. Howard Adelman & Linda Taylor Center Co-directors School Engagement, Disengagement, Learning Supports, & School Climate Contents: I About School Engagement, Re-engagement, and Learning Supports IIAppreciating Intrinsic Motivation III Motivation: A Key Concern of Any Intervention IV Motivation and School Improvement: Beyond Reinforcement Theory V A Caution about Over-relying on Extrinsics VI About Psychological Reactance & Re-engagement VII School Climate as an Emergent Quality Concluding Comments School Engagement, Disengagement, Learning Supports, & School Climate “Learning and succeeding in school requires active engagement. ... The core principles that underlie engagement are applicable to all schools—whether they are in urban, suburban, or rural communities. ... Engaging adolescents, including those who have become disengaged and alienated from school, is not an easy task. Academic motivation decreases steadily from the early grades of elementary school into high school. Furthermore, adolescents are too old and too independent to follow teachers’ demands out of obedience, and many are too young, inexperienced, or uninformed to fully appreciate the value of succeeding in school.” National Academy of Science’s Research Council (2004) Most policy makers and administrators know that by itself good instruction delivered by highly qualified teachers is not enough to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school. Schools continue to suffer from high dropout rates of students and staff, an achievement gap that resists closure, a high incidence of schools designated as low performing, and the tendency for achievement test score averages to plateau after a few years of gains. Simply stated, prevailing policy and practice have not effectively dealt with these matters. In particular, student engagement and disengagement are poorly addressed in most efforts to improve schools and schooling. Current practices often work against enhancing engagement and result in many students disconnecting from classroom instruction. School improvement policy and practices need immediate revision to correct these deficiencies. And in the ESEA reauthorization process, these matters should be assigned a high priority. Part of the problem is that pre- and inservice personnel preparation programs tend to perpetuate a narrow view of human motivation. Most school staff have been taught to think primarily in terms of extrinsic motivation (i.e., reinforcement concepts) and have had little exposure to intrinsic motivation theory and its implications for school practices. This is unfortunate given that the key to understanding engagement and disengagement is an appreciation of intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a fundamental consideration in designing cost-effective student and learning supports. Understanding intrinsic motivation clarifies how essential it is to avoid processes that limit options, make students feel controlled and coerced, and that focus mainly on “remedying” problems. Overreliance on extrinsic motivation risks producing avoidance reactions in the classroom and to school and, thus, can reduce opportunities for positive learning and for development of positive attitudes. Over time, the result is that too many students disengage from classroom learning. Practices for preventing disengagement and efforts to re-engage disconnected students (families, staff) require minimizing conditions that negatively affect intrinsic motivation and maximizing those that enhance it. 2 Easy to say, hard to do. To underscore what is involved, this special issue discusses (1) school engagement, re- engagement, and learning supports (2) intrinsic motivation basics, (3) motivation as a key concern of any intervention, (4) the need to go beyond reinforcement theory, (5) the problem of over-relying on extrinsics, (6) psychological reactance and re-engagement, and (7) school climate as an emergent quality. I. About School Engagement, Re-engagement, and Learning Supports After an extensive review of the literature, Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004) conclude: Engagement is associated with positive academic outcomes, including achievement and persistence in school; and it is higher in classrooms with supportive teachers and peers, challenging and authentic tasks, opportunities for choice, and sufficient structure. Conversely, for many students, disengagement is associated with behavior problems, and behavior and learning problems may eventually lead to dropout. From a psychological perspective, disengagement from classroom learning is associated with threats to feelings of competence, self-determination, and/or relatedness to valued others. The demands may be from school staff, peers, instructional content and processes. Psychological disengagement can be expected to result in internalized behavior (e.g., boredom, emotional distress) and/or externalized behavior (misbehavior, dropping out). Maintaining engagement and re-engaging disconnected students requires minimizing conditions that negatively affect intrinsic motivation and maximizing conditions that have a positive motivational effect. The figure below and the concepts outlined in Exhibit 1 graphically highlight a range of concepts related to these intervention concerns. Engagement, Disengagement, & Re-engagement Source of Motivation Extrinsics Intrinsics Intrinsics/ Extrinsics Engagement Intervention Concerns Disengagement (psychological reactance) Re-engagement 3 Exhibit 1 Defining, Recognizing Antecedents of, and Measuring Engagement Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004) note that engagement is defined in three ways in the school research literature: • Behavioral engagement draws on the idea of participation; it includes involvement in academic and social or extracurricular activities and is considered crucial for achieving positive academic outcomes and preventing dropping out. • Emotional engagement encompasses positive and negative reactions to teachers, classmates, academics, and school and is presumed to create ties to an institution and influences willingness to do the work. • Cognitive engagement draws on the idea of investment; it incorporates thoughtfulness and willingness to exert the effort necessary to comprehend complex ideas and master difficult skills. Engagement is measured as follows: • Behavioral Engagement: conduct, work involvement, participation, persistence (e.g., completing homework, complying with school rules, absent/tardy, off-task) • Emotional Engagement: self-report related to feelings of frustration, boredom, interest, anger, satisfaction; student-teacher relations; work orientation • Cognitive Engagement: investment in learning, flexible problems solving, independent work styles, coping with perceived failure, preference for challenge and independent mastery, commitment to understanding the work Antecedents of engagement are grouped as: • School level factors: voluntary choice, clear and consistent goals, small size, student participation in school policy and management, opportunities for staff and students to be involved in cooperative endeavors, and academic work that allows for the development of products • Classroom Context: Teacher support, peers, classroom structure, autonomy support, task characteristics • Individual Needs: Need for relatedness, need for autonomy, need for competence 4 Learning Supports and Intrinsic Motivation Development of a Comprehensive System of Learning Supports enhances a school’s focus on promoting engagement and re-engagement of students (families, staff). As our Center’s research has stressed, such a system enhances interventions in six critical arenas for addressing barriers to learning and teaching and re-engaging disconnected students (Adelman & Taylor, 2006a, b). The following examples of activity related to each of the six arenas highlight how the system can promote student and staff feelings of competence, self- determination, and positive relationships with others and enhance intrinsic motivation: 1. Classroom focused interventions to enable & re-engage students in learning By opening the classroom door to bring in available supports (e.g., student support staff, resource teachers, volunteers), teachers are enabled to enhance options and facilitate student choice and decision making in ways that increase the intrinsic motivation of all involved. 2. Crisis assistance and prevention School-focused crisis teams can take proactive leadership in developing prevention programs to avoid or mitigate crises by enhancing protective buffers and student intrinsic motivation for preventing interpersonal and human relationship problems. 3. Support for transitions Welcoming and ongoing social support for students, families, and staff new to the school provide both a motivational and a capacity building foundation for developing positive working relationships and a positive school climate. 4. Home involvement and engagement in schooling Expanding the nature and scope of interventions and enhancing communication mechanisms for outreaching in ways that connect with the variety of motivational differences manifested by parents and other student caretakers enables development of intrinsically motivated school-home working relationships. 5. Community outreach for involvement and support Weaving together school and community efforts to enhance the range of options and choices for students, both in school and in the community, can better address barriers to learning, promote child and youth development, and establish a sense of community that supports learning and focuses on hope for the future (higher ed/career choices). 6. Student and family assistance Providing personalized support as soon as a need is recognized and doing so in the least disruptive ways minimizes threats to intrinsic motivation and when implemented with a shared and mutually respectful problem-solving approach can enhance intrinsic motivation and the sense of competence and positive relationship among all involved. 5 Strategies for Re-engagement Given all this, highlighted below are four personalized intervention strategies for working with disengaged students. Clarifying student perceptions of the problem. It is desirable to create a situation where it is feasible to talk openly with students about why they have become disengaged. This provides an invaluable basis for formulating a personalized plan to alter their negative perceptions and to prevent others from developing such perceptions. Reframing school learning. As noted above, in the case of those who have disengaged, major reframing in teaching approaches is required so that these students a) view the teacher as supportive (rather than controlling and indifferent) and b) perceive content, outcomes, and activity options as personally valuable and obtainable. It is important, for example, to eliminate threatening evaluative measures; reframe content and processes to clarify purpose in terms of real life needs and experiences and underscore how it all builds on previous learning; and clarify why the procedures are expected to be effective especially those designed to help correct specific problems. Renegotiating involvement in school learning. New and mutual agreements must be developed over time through conferences with the student and including parents where appropriate. The intent is to affect perceptions of choice, value, and probable outcome. The focus throughout is on clarifying awareness of valued options, enhancing expectations of positive outcomes, and engaging the student in meaningful, ongoing decision making. Students should be assisted in sampling new processes and content, options should include valued enrichment opportunities, and there must be provision for reevaluating and modifying decisions as perceptions shift. Reestablishing and maintaining an appropriate working relationship. This requires the type of ongoing interactions that create a sense of trust, open communication, and provide personalized support and direction. To maintain re-engagement and prevent disengagement, the above strategies must be pursued using processes and content that: • Minimize threats to feelings of competence, self-determination, and relatedness to others • Maximize such feelings (included here is an emphasis on a school taking steps to enhance public perception that it is a welcoming, caring, safe, and just institution) • Guide motivated practice (e.g., providing opportunities for meaningful applications and clarifying ways to organize practice) • Provide continuous information on learning and performance in ways that highlight accomplishments • Provide opportunities for continued application and generalization (e.g., ways in which students can pursue additional, self-directed learning or can arrange for additional support and direction) Obviously, it is no easy task to decrease well-assimilated negative attitudes and behaviors. And, the task is likely to become even harder in the context of high stakes testing policies (no matter how well-intentioned). It also seems obvious that, for many schools, enhanced achievement test scores will only be feasible when the large number of disengaged students are re-engaged in learning at school. 6 A greater proportion of individuals with avoidance or low motivation for learning at school are found among those with learning, behavior, and/or emotional problems. For these individuals, few currently available options may be appealing. How much greater the range of options needs to be depends primarily on how strong avoidance tendencies are. In general, however, the initial strategies for working with such students involve • further expansion of the range of options for learning (if necessary, this includes avoiding established curriculum content and processes) • primarily emphasizing areas in which the student has made personal and active decisions • accommodation of a wider range of behavior than usually is tolerated (e.g., a widening of limits on the amount and types of "differences" tolerated) WHAT WORKS: Reviews of the literature on human motivation suggest that providing students with options and involving them in decision making are key facets of addressing the problem of engagement in the classroom and at school. For example, numerous studies have shown that opportunities to express preferences and make choices lead to greater motivation, academic gains, increases in productivity and on-task behavior, and decreases in aggressive behavior. Similarly, researchers report that student participation in goal setting leads to more positive outcomes (e.g., higher commitment to a goal and increased performance). II. Appreciating Intrinsic Motivation Psychological scholarship over the last fifty years has brought renewed attention to motivation as a central concept in understanding learning and attention problems. This work is just beginning to find its way into personnel preparation programs and schools. One line of work emphasizes the relationship of learning and behavior problems to deficiencies in intrinsic motivation and clarifies the importance of focusing on • feelings of self-determination • feelings of competence and expectations of success • feelings of interpersonal relatedness • the range of interests and satisfactions related to learning. Activities to correct deficiencies in intrinsic motivation are directed at improving awareness of personal motives and true capabilities, learning to set valued and appropriate goals, learning to value and to make appropriate and satisfying choices, and learning to value and accept responsibility for choice. The point for emphasis here is that engaging and re-engaging students in learning involves matching motivation. Matching motivation requires an appreciation of the importance of a student's perceptions in determining the right mix of intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. It also requires understanding the key role played by expectations related to outcome. Without a good match, social control strategies can suppress negative attitudes and behaviors, but are unlikely to re-engage disconnected students in classroom learning. 7 Examples of practices for maximizing intrinsic motivation are: • Personalized (as opposed to individualized) instruction • Building relationships and planning instruction with an understanding of student perceptions and including a range of real life needs, as well as personal and cooperative experiences • Providing real, valued, and attainable options and choices ensuring shared decision making • Enhancing feelings of competence, self-determination, and relatedness to valued others Examples of minimizing threats to intrinsic motivation are: • Ensuring a welcoming, caring, safe, and just environment • Countering perceptions of social control and indifference • Designing motivated applications as opposed to rote practice and deadening homework • Ensuring extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities • Providing regular feedback in ways that minimize use of evaluative processes that threaten feelings of competence, self-determination, and relatedness to valued others Strong intrinsic motivation can be viewed as a fundamental protective factor and as a key to developing resiliency. Students who are intrinsically motivated to learn at school seek out opportunities and challenges and go beyond requirements. In doing so, they learn more and learn more deeply than do classmates who are extrinsically motivated. Facilitating the learning of such students is fairly straightforward and meshes well with school improvements that primarily emphasize enhancing instructional practices. The focus is on helping establish ways for students who already are motivationally ready and able to achieve and maintaining and enhancing their motivation. The process involves knowing when, how, and what to teach and also knowing when and how to structure the situation so students can learn on their own. In contrast, students who manifest learning, behavior, and/or emotional problems usually are not motivationally ready and able to pursue nonpersonalized instructional practices. They often have extremely negative perceptions of teachers, programs, and school and generally are not open to people and activities that they perceive as "the same old thing." Any effort to re-engage disengaged students must begin by addressing negative perceptions. Teachers and school support staff must work together to reverse conditions that led to such perceptions. Minimally, exceptional efforts must be made to enhance such a student’s perceptions that (1) the teacher and other interveners are supportive (rather than controlling and indifferent) and (2) content, outcomes, and activity options are personally valuable and obtainable. Note: While our focus here is on students, any discussion of motivation has applications to family members and school personnel. Think about the challenge of home involvement in schooling, and think about teacher burnout and dropout; think about systemic change.