Engagement Theory
Well, I decided to work ahead and get this week’s assignment done early. After reviewing the theories posted for this week , I chose “Engagement Theory” to discuss in this blog. The following text provides a summary of the main ideas of this theory and relates in to this class along with other research on engagement.
To begin, Engagement Theory proposes that, in order for learning to occur, students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks. As I read this basic definition, I did not feel that Engagement Theory was truly adding anything new to our current knowledge of helping people learn. Further reading about the three basic principles helped to separate this theory as it’s own theory for learning that can be easily applied to information we have learned in this class.
The first principle, Relate, emphasizes team efforts that involve communication, planning, management and social skills. The modern workplace demands proficiency in these skills, yet historically students have been taught to work and learn on their own. When students work in teams, they often have the opportunity to work with others from quite different backgrounds and this facilitates an understanding of diversity and multiple perspectives.
The Relate principle made me reflect on research done by the Gallup Organization on employee engagement. The idea of employee engagement was first introduced in the book, “First, Break all the Rules”. This research claims that employees need to have basic needs met before they can move to higher levels of engagement and thus be more productive in their jobs. The Relate principle is similar to the “Base Camp” idea in the employee engagement research. In the base camp, employees want to know what’s expected of them at work and do I have what I need to be successful. The is similar to the Relate principle because I can’t move to the next principle, Create, effectively if I don’t have the communication skills and teamwork required in the Relate principle similar to I can’t move to camp 1 effectively without meeting the needs at base camp in the employee engagement research.
Also, as I read about the Relate principle it reminded me of many of the discussions, blogs, videos, etc posted for earlier weeks in this class on the importance of other people for technology to be engaging for a student learner.
The second principle, Create, makes learning a creative, purposeful activity. Students have to define the project (problem domain) and focus their efforts on application of ideas to a specific context. Conducting their own projects is much more interesting to students that answering sterile textbook problems.
Going back to relating this theory to the employee engagement research, the second stage in employee engagement is camp 1. In camp 1, employees begin asking whether they are doing a good job, am I excelling in my role, do others feel I am excelling, etc. In other words, the employee is focused on his/her individual contribution and other people’s perception of it. This is related to the Create principle in that the Create principle appears to focus on the individual and his/her understanding of a problem or project. Does the person know how to attack the problem? Will others feel that I have adequately addressed the issues in the project? Further, it appears that both Camp 1 and the Create principle are addressing issues with the individual’s self-esteem and worth. If the student does not feel that the project or if the employee does not feel that his/her work adds to their feelings of self-worth then they are less likely to be engaged in the learning or in their job.
The create principle made me think a lot about the Youtube video posted for this class where it has a classroom full if students holding up signs with phrases written about how a majority of the assignments and lectures for a class are irrelevant to them. In other words, the student wants to work on a meaningful project and if given that opportunity they will focus their efforts.
The third principle, Donate, stresses the value of making a useful contribution while learning. Ideally each project has an outside "customer" that the project is being conducted for. The customer could be a campus group, community organization, school, church, library, museum, government agency, local business, or needy individual. In many cases, the projects can be work-related, i.e., an activity that fits into a team's occupational or career interests.
To finish relating this theory to the employee engagement theory we need to move to camp 2 and camp 3. Camp 2 has employees asking whether they belong here. They want to know if others share their values. For example, the employee may be very customer-service oriented but wants to know is everyone else as customer focused as they are. Camp 3 is now focused on the employee knowing whether they are making things better, learning, growing and innovating. Similar to the Donate principle they want to make sure that they are making a useful contribution to their customer.
Further research in employee engagement research has found that employees who are at camp 3 are significantly more productive and committed to the organization than employees at base camp or employees who are actively disengaged at work. This has to be similar with the learning engagement theory. When a student has all three principles in place from this theory then it would make sense that the learning outcomes for these students would be significantly better than those who may only have the Relate principle being met.
When the employee engagement research was first introduced it required a lot of time to get managers to think differently about how to engage employees at work. In other words, it was much more than just a paycheck or a pay increase that would engage employees. It was about knowing your job and feeling you were making a difference.
Similarly, the learning engagement theory will mean teachers will need to change the way they do things to get students more involved in technology. Teachers will need practice in organizing and conducting collaborative activities, particularly the facilitative role that is needed. A lot of attention has to be devoted to ways in which student teams can most effectively present and share their results with each other. And both students and teachers will need training and support in the use of all online communication tools.
It is important to remember that the role of technology in the theory is to facilitate engagement. The use of email, online conferencing, web databases, groupware, and audio/videoconferencing significantly increases the extent and ease of interaction amongst all participants, as well as access to information. The vast array of software tools available for analysis, design, planning, problem-solving and making presentations make enable students to do sophisticated and complex tasks. Technology provides an electronic learning milieu that fosters the kind of creativity and communication needed to nourish engagement.
I was excited to read about this theory and see how it related to engagement research I read about often. Other theories noted on the page also piqued my interest but I have also read about several of them in the past with my educational background in Psychology.
Well, I decided to work ahead and get this week’s assignment done early. After reviewing the theories posted for this week , I chose “Engagement Theory” to discuss in this blog. The following text provides a summary of the main ideas of this theory and relates in to this class along with other research on engagement.
To begin, Engagement Theory proposes that, in order for learning to occur, students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks. As I read this basic definition, I did not feel that Engagement Theory was truly adding anything new to our current knowledge of helping people learn. Further reading about the three basic principles helped to separate this theory as it’s own theory for learning that can be easily applied to information we have learned in this class.
The first principle, Relate, emphasizes team efforts that involve communication, planning, management and social skills. The modern workplace demands proficiency in these skills, yet historically students have been taught to work and learn on their own. When students work in teams, they often have the opportunity to work with others from quite different backgrounds and this facilitates an understanding of diversity and multiple perspectives.
The Relate principle made me reflect on research done by the Gallup Organization on employee engagement. The idea of employee engagement was first introduced in the book, “First, Break all the Rules”. This research claims that employees need to have basic needs met before they can move to higher levels of engagement and thus be more productive in their jobs. The Relate principle is similar to the “Base Camp” idea in the employee engagement research. In the base camp, employees want to know what’s expected of them at work and do I have what I need to be successful. The is similar to the Relate principle because I can’t move to the next principle, Create, effectively if I don’t have the communication skills and teamwork required in the Relate principle similar to I can’t move to camp 1 effectively without meeting the needs at base camp in the employee engagement research.
Also, as I read about the Relate principle it reminded me of many of the discussions, blogs, videos, etc posted for earlier weeks in this class on the importance of other people for technology to be engaging for a student learner.
The second principle, Create, makes learning a creative, purposeful activity. Students have to define the project (problem domain) and focus their efforts on application of ideas to a specific context. Conducting their own projects is much more interesting to students that answering sterile textbook problems.
Going back to relating this theory to the employee engagement research, the second stage in employee engagement is camp 1. In camp 1, employees begin asking whether they are doing a good job, am I excelling in my role, do others feel I am excelling, etc. In other words, the employee is focused on his/her individual contribution and other people’s perception of it. This is related to the Create principle in that the Create principle appears to focus on the individual and his/her understanding of a problem or project. Does the person know how to attack the problem? Will others feel that I have adequately addressed the issues in the project? Further, it appears that both Camp 1 and the Create principle are addressing issues with the individual’s self-esteem and worth. If the student does not feel that the project or if the employee does not feel that his/her work adds to their feelings of self-worth then they are less likely to be engaged in the learning or in their job.
The create principle made me think a lot about the Youtube video posted for this class where it has a classroom full if students holding up signs with phrases written about how a majority of the assignments and lectures for a class are irrelevant to them. In other words, the student wants to work on a meaningful project and if given that opportunity they will focus their efforts.
The third principle, Donate, stresses the value of making a useful contribution while learning. Ideally each project has an outside "customer" that the project is being conducted for. The customer could be a campus group, community organization, school, church, library, museum, government agency, local business, or needy individual. In many cases, the projects can be work-related, i.e., an activity that fits into a team's occupational or career interests.
To finish relating this theory to the employee engagement theory we need to move to camp 2 and camp 3. Camp 2 has employees asking whether they belong here. They want to know if others share their values. For example, the employee may be very customer-service oriented but wants to know is everyone else as customer focused as they are. Camp 3 is now focused on the employee knowing whether they are making things better, learning, growing and innovating. Similar to the Donate principle they want to make sure that they are making a useful contribution to their customer.
Further research in employee engagement research has found that employees who are at camp 3 are significantly more productive and committed to the organization than employees at base camp or employees who are actively disengaged at work. This has to be similar with the learning engagement theory. When a student has all three principles in place from this theory then it would make sense that the learning outcomes for these students would be significantly better than those who may only have the Relate principle being met.
When the employee engagement research was first introduced it required a lot of time to get managers to think differently about how to engage employees at work. In other words, it was much more than just a paycheck or a pay increase that would engage employees. It was about knowing your job and feeling you were making a difference.
Similarly, the learning engagement theory will mean teachers will need to change the way they do things to get students more involved in technology. Teachers will need practice in organizing and conducting collaborative activities, particularly the facilitative role that is needed. A lot of attention has to be devoted to ways in which student teams can most effectively present and share their results with each other. And both students and teachers will need training and support in the use of all online communication tools.
It is important to remember that the role of technology in the theory is to facilitate engagement. The use of email, online conferencing, web databases, groupware, and audio/videoconferencing significantly increases the extent and ease of interaction amongst all participants, as well as access to information. The vast array of software tools available for analysis, design, planning, problem-solving and making presentations make enable students to do sophisticated and complex tasks. Technology provides an electronic learning milieu that fosters the kind of creativity and communication needed to nourish engagement.
I was excited to read about this theory and see how it related to engagement research I read about often. Other theories noted on the page also piqued my interest but I have also read about several of them in the past with my educational background in Psychology.
The "engagement theory" is another good tool for the classroom. This is the theory that I use in my current position. When I work with my students on how to gain employment, it is hard for them to follow, if i just lectured on the process of gaining employment.
ReplyDeleteI have found by engaging my students in filling out applications, going through mock interviews. and being active in the job seeking process.
The engagement theory is good as long as the teacher has their lesson plans organized and makes sure the students are engaged in a positive way. Well done Matt!