Hello,
As a student, I was always good at school. I was the kid who did my homework, studied for tests, and followed the rules. In high school, I earned enough credits to be considered a college sophomore by graduation. In college, I kept my grades up and dove headfirst into every academic requirement. At every stage, I did what was expected—but I wasn’t necessarily engaging deeply with the material.
So here I am again in the position of student, and I find myself increasingly frustrated. I’m an engaged learner at heart. I’m curious, I ask questions, and I crave deeper understanding. Yet, too often, I’m steeped in work that doesn’t stretch me. I find myself desperately offering feedback—both when it’s solicited and on my own initiative—because I’m hungry for real engagement.
In the amazing book Real Engagement: How Do I Help My Students Become Motivated, Confident, and Self-Directed Learners?, Allison Zmuda and Robyn R. Jackson, do a brilliant job of establishing the differences between compliance and engagement. The book is just over fifty pages, but it’s worth every penny because it does such a top-notch job of explaining why being a student can be so disengaging to learners.
In the article “4 (Secret) Keys to Student Engagement” (2014), Zmuda and Jackson explain the differences between compliant and engaged learners.
We all recognize our compliant learners. They’re the ones who follow directions, diligently complete assignments, and get good grades mostly because of their effort or adherence to directions. They do the work because it’s assigned, not because they find it interesting or relevant….
Unfortunately, we often take this quiet cooperation in class as a substitute for real engagement…Engagement tends to look quite different. Engaged learners often pursue their own train of thought about the topic under study, regardless of the task at hand. They may not always participate in group activities if they’re still mulling ideas over—or if they’re immersed in finishing that assigned task that they’re just now getting around to doing.
Engaged learners tend to focus on the learning and share their thoughts unprompted, without consideration for those around them. (19)
I am an engaged learner, and I want to be an engaged student, but instead, I find myself frustrated because I am not learning the things I know I don’t know and am instead steeped in work that doesn’t stretch me. Rather than learning new things, I am learning about managing my negative emotions toward the poor designs of the activities, the lack of authenticity of the tasks, and the unwillingness of the systems to sincerely elicit or respond to feedback.
Speaking of which, I desperately offer feedback when it’s solicited and even reach out to offer unsolicited feedback because I am hungry to be engaged. For example, there was a section of my work as a student that focused on engagement. In the assigned content, the terms “motivation” and “engagement” were used interchangeably. Through my work on engagement, I know that engagement and motivation are distinctly different. I wrote the person in charge and said:
While these two concepts are closely related, they are, in fact, distinct. Motivation is the why behind our actions, whereas engagement is the how we feel about those actions. It’s possible to be highly motivated to complete a task but not fully engaged in it. For example, I may be motivated to pay taxes to avoid legal consequences, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I am engaged in the process of doing so.
I share this because there is often confusion about engagement (which is part of why I wrote my books), and the intention of the session—improving engagement—is incredibly important. However, it's essential to recognize that strategies to boost motivation differ from those aimed at increasing engagement. Motivation can be driven by external pressures or rewards, but increasing engagement requires more thoughtful and intrinsic approaches. For example, using threats or bribery may raise motivation temporarily, but may not necessarily enhance engagement and could even hinder it in some cases.
I could expand on this further, but I wanted to highlight this distinction in the hope it adds value to the session.
The response to my email was this:
…While we appreciate your perspective, the intention behind these sessions is to guide participants through a specific process that we've developed. We’ve created this structure to be cohesive and impactful for everyone involved, and as such, we kindly ask that you follow the content as presented…Thank you again for reaching out. We appreciate your understanding and your continued commitment to enhancing education.
In other words: Sit down. Do what you’re told. Be compliant.
This moment clarified something for me—I don’t want to just be a student. I want to be a learner. I want to be engaged, to question, to wrestle with ideas. And I want that for all students. Because true learning isn’t about following directions—it’s about curiosity, discovery, and a deep, intrinsic desire to know more. That is the kind of learning I will always chase, and it is the kind of learning I will always champion for others.
~Heather
P.S. My Catch of the Week is this game that I made based on Zmuda and Jackson's chart, "Compliant or Engaged Learner." In sessions I facilitate, I have taken the information in the chart and cut it into strips. Participants sort the strips into two piles: Compliant Learners and Engaged Learners. Then, they match each compliant statement with the engaged statement. Since you can't do that, I did the next best thing and made it into a virtual matching game. Check it out! Be sure to carefully notice how the Engaged Learner behaviors are ones that are not always easy to manage--that's the real eye-opener to this task, in my opinion.
Directions on how to play:
Click this link.
You will see two columns. The column on the left is the Compliant Learner and the column on the right is the Engaged Learner. You may need to enlargen the screen to read the columns (to do so, press the ctrl and the plus button on your keyboard at the same time).
Select a statement on the left by clicking on it then click on the corresponding statement on the right. If you get it right, a line will remain that connects those statements. If you get it wrong, the line will disappear.
Repeat this process until you have matched all ten statements.
If you would like to see Zmuda and Jackson's chart, "Compliant or Engaged Learner" as a PDF, click here - but not until you completed the game since the chart has the answers ;-)
P.P.S. Please remember to...
Like and share this post
Check out other posts
Subscribe to www.lyonsletters.com
Buy and rate your copy of Engagement is Not Unicorn (It's a Narwhal),
From Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Comments