Literature Synthesis
This year of distance learning has offered unique and unprecedented challenges. Students are isolated at home, away from supportive peers, teachers, and a typical learning environment. In my own class and through talking with other teachers, I have noticed a common issue that appears to be more acute than in previous years: Students report being unmotivated and disengaged. I have noticed that many students demonstrate low levels of persistence when faced with barriers and obstacles; when they encounter confusion or distraction they often give up on the work. Furthermore, it is difficult for teachers to measure when students are engaged or disengaged because the majority of students are not comfortable showing themselves on camera or even unmuting themselves to participate in class discussions verbally. I approached this lesson study cycle with a focus on the broad topic of motivation and engagement and how I might support students to develop more motivation and perseverance through increased engagement. The study of motivation and engagement is complex, and several themes emerged during the course of my research. First, students do better when they experience positive relationships and connectedness with their peers and teachers (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). Second, students experience increased engagement and motivation when they feel the subjects and classwork are relevant to their lives (Altschuler & Chai, 2019; Tovani, 2004). Third, student agency and autonomy can have a positive impact on motivation and engagement (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). Lastly, if I want my students to experience success academically and in life beyond academia, it is important to help them develop the noncognitive skills of persistence and using metacognitive strategies (Farrington et. al, 2012; Price-Mitchell, 2015).
I have seen a difference in relationship building, interaction, motivation and engagement this year during distance learning. These things are affecting both students and teachers, compounding the issues of building rapport and creating safe learning environments, which Farrington et al. (2012) state is a key component of a classroom context that contributes to student performance and success. In my research, multiple resources highlighted how critically important relationships and rapport are in creating a classroom where students are consistently motivated and engaged. Farrington et al. (2012) listed quality of relationships with educators as a critical factor in students' academic success. Similarly, Toshalis & Nakkula (2012) state that “students experience varying levels of motivation that often depends on the extent to which they feel their actions are or will be self-determined” (p. 9). One factor in self-determination is that students feel comfortable and connected to the people around them as they work (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). Furthermore, strong relationships with teachers can facilitate increased intrinsic motivation to succeed academically over time. A student’s external environment and experiences become internalized over time and by this process, extrinsic motivators become intrinsic motivation. People who are important in a student’s life have a significant impact in shaping that student’s beliefs and values, and thereby their motivations (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). “The more a student is exposed to a teacher’s (and others’) thinking, the more that student’s thoughts are influenced....External motivators are provided by important people in students’ lives.” (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012, p. 9). Importantly, “extrinsic motivation rarely becomes internalized outside of meaningful, supportive relationships” (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012, p. 9).
Students' motivation and engagement are also dependent upon whether or not they see school as valuable and relevant to their lives. According to Toshalis, some students arrive in our classrooms pre-motivated to achieve. These students “may not require teachers to draw them into lessons, or convince them to do their best precisely because they already believe that school works for them.” (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012, p. 10) Many other students have experienced alienation and marginalization throughout their education and lack motivation because they do not see school as relevant or useful to them. Toshalis & Nakkula point out that these students need to be invited and drawn into lessons in order to be motivated and engaged. They also may require an explicit explanation of how the skills and content being taught relate to them. According to Farrington et. al (2012), academic mindset also contributes to whether or not students display academic perseverance, which ultimately has a profound influence on academic performance. One academic mindset involves whether or not a student sees the content of a class as interesting or valuable. Value in this case can be defined in a variety of ways, include “the importance of doing well on a task (attainment value); gaining enjoyment by doing a task (intrinsic value); or serving a useful purpose or meeting an end goal that is important by completing a task (utility value)” (Farrington et. al, 2012). Supporting this idea is Expectancy-Value theory, which states skills and information are more likely to be utilized if they are viewed as valuable. (Altchuler & Chai, 2019). Altchuler & Chai (2019) say that one of the barriers for teachers trying to support struggling and resistive readers is the belief that many students hold that reading is not important or valuable. It is difficult to engage and motivate students in a Humanities classroom when they don’t think reading will help them. Tovani (2004) recommends telling students to ask themselves, “what’s in this for me?” at the beginning of each school year. She tells them that they should be reading for themselves, not the teacher, their parents or anyone else. This line of thinking pushes students to consider how these skills might be valuable for them, thus developing motivation to engage and persevere. Texts become inaccessible to students when they “lack purpose. Students who don't have a purpose when they read usually lose interest in what they are reading and fail to construct meaning. It’s hard to glean anything from the text when you don’t know why you’re reading it.” (Tovani 2000 p. 20) This research affected how I framed my lesson to my students. At the start of the lesson, I discuss the importance of the skills we will be practicing and how they are relevant to both our semester-long project and ultimately to their lives. I also ask students to reflect on personal goals that they have for themselves and how our literacy work together can support them in their long-term journeys.
Students tend to be more motivated and engaged in student-centered classrooms where they feel they have some autonomy and decision making power (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). Having agency helps students buy-in. One way to include student autonomy in my lesson is to empower all of my students to decide how they will engage with the topic, by offering materials in different mediums, allowing them to choose who they work with, at what pace, and how they express their learning. One of an educator’s primary goals is “helping students move from being passive recipients of academic content to active learners who can manage their workload, assess their progress and status, persist in difficult tasks, and develop a reliable set of strategies to master increasingly complex academic content as they proceed through school” (Farrington et. al, 2012, p. 5). By providing both autonomy as well as structure and support, teachers can help students build the motivation and skills to overcome barriers to their own learning. We decided to build this autonomy into the lesson by asking students to think about how they learn best (independently, in partnership, or in a teacher-led group) and chose the option that would give them the best chance of success. We also utilized Universal Design for Learning strategies by providing options for how students could demonstrate their comprehension during a reading task and ultimately how they would show that they had mastered the content in the summative assessment. According to constructivist views, students are active learners and necessarily participate in their own learning. In addition to fostering relatedness through relationship and rapport building, building interest and relevance, and providing opportunities for autonomy, research suggests that supporting students in developing noncognitive skills can also positively affect motivation and engagement.
Noncognitive factors, sometimes referred to as soft skills, emerged as a theme in my research. Noncognitive factors are described as “Academic behaviors, attitudes, and strategies that are critical for success in school and in later life, including study skills, attendance, work habits, time management, help-seeking behaviors, metacognitive strategies, and social and academic problem-solving skills that allow students to successfully manage new environments and meet new academic and social demands” (Farrington et. al, 2012, p. 5-6) Farrington et al. (2012) state that the noncognitive factors of persistence and metacognitive strategies are key to academic success. The research on this topic pushed me to think about how I might help students develop the noncognitive skills of perseverance through goal setting and metacognitive check ins meant to increase students metacognitive awareness. Price-Mitchell states that “as students' metacognitive abilities increase, research suggests they also achieve at higher levels” (Price-Mitchell, 2015). This was particularly relevant to my dilemma about students displaying low levels of persistence and perseverance in the face of challenges. Price-Mitchell states that when teachers routinely provide opportunities to reflect and practice metacognitive strategies, students “become more self-reliant, flexible, and productive. Students improve their capacity to weigh choices and evaluate options, particularly when answers are not obvious. When students have difficulty understanding, they rely on reflective strategies to recognize their difficulties and attempt to rectify them.” (Price-Mitchell, 2015) Additionally, adolescents between the ages of 12-15 show the most metacognitive growth, so my 10th grade students are at the prime age to engage in developing metacognitive strategies (Price-mitchell, 2015). I am hoping for my students to build the skills where they can set goals for themselves, continuously reflect upon their progress, and find ways to become unstuck when they encounter barriers. These skills will all contribute to academic success in the short term and a more positive academic mindset in the long term. In the end, research indicates that this can create a positive feedback loop that ultimately enables students to be successful in high school, college and career (Farrington et. al, 2012). By pushing students to engage in metacognitive practices, teachers can help them become independent learners “who can manage their workload, assess their progress and status, persist in difficult tasks, and develop a reliable set of strategies to master increasingly complex academic content as they proceed through school” (Farrington et. al, 2012, p. 7).