Re-imagining Pedagogical Approaches to Support Student Engagement in Secondary Schools

This chapter reports on research investigating how Australian secondary teachers (n = 237) understand student engagement and prioritise teaching strategies to improve student engagement in the classroom. The chapter commences by defining student engagement, and exploring the teacher’s role in improving student engagement according to research. Key findings from the study provide insight into teachers’ understandings of student engagement, their prioritisation of pedagogies to support student engagement in relation to behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement, and the (mis)alignment between understanding and practice that exists for some teachers. Contextual factors that impact teaching for student engagement are discussed, with a model proposed as a teaching/professional learning resource for teachers and schools to use to re-imagine pedagogical approaches to support student engagement in the classroom. The aim is to ameliorate teaching for engagement both for practicing teachers and at the undergraduate level of teacher training.