Engagement in Teaching and Learning From Actor to Spectator - Quick Reference Guide

A 4-page 8.5" x 11" quick reference guide. Part of the "Award Winning Professors Series"* This Permachart will focus on classroom engagement facilitated by the teacher. Why aim for classroom engagement? In the short term, a class or a course can speak more directly to students, and can mould or even transform attitudes toward a subject, possibly toward learning itself. Over a longer term, teachers can help the classroom become what Gramsci would have called "a pre-figurative institution", a community of learners that prepares everyone (teacher included) for social engagement. Short-term involvement can foster long-term citizenship. In an age when we can be more connected to the outside world than to our own communities, teachers must find ways of empowering students so that they can affirm their role as players, even leaders, in the classroom. This Permachart has three phases: Setting the Stage: How can teachers best prepare themselves to facilitate classroom engagement? On Stage: Will actor-teachers and spectator-students experience synchrony or convergence or rhythms? Student-Players: What co-management strategies can help students to "take charge" as teachers "let go"?