The Engagement Problem by WILLIAM IRVING https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht A case study of a year 9 class en-us 2019-10-31 04:53:35 UTC 2025-10-22 16:51:01 UTC hello@padlet.com Vignette 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404846443 I have a Kahoot! lined up for the start of class to review what we have learnt so far. I specify that the player names must be recognisable so I can take useful information from the game. Predictably, “Dixie Normous” appears in the player list. Year 9 class C is disengaged. Not just disengaged from the teacher or the content but also the school, societal norms and parents. Enforcing a simple naming scheme for this quiz becomes like fighting a hydra, deleting names and walking around to check who is who. I know that once the quiz starts, they will all answer the questions and pay close attention to the scores but now there is a game in play that is built specifically to “troll” any one of authority. Those not directly involved take every opportunity to chat amongst themselves, thinking themselves camouflaged by the chaos but rather reinforcing it. 

The class devolves quickly into yet another dressing down on the student’s disrespect and poor behaviour. They think they are being persecuted by myself and other teachers. An accusation that stands in stark contrast to the fact that they can’t even be respectful to each other long enough to communicate that message. After 30 minutes we still haven’t started question 2. 

]]> 2019-10-31 04:57:06 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404846443 A Culture of Disengagement 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404846622 The class has created for themselves a private ecosystem within the classroom where engaging with each other and rejecting the influences of others is the primary culture behind their collective actions. There is little to no negative consequences that seems to markedly change their behaviour and positive reinforcement and reward are secondary to the positive associations they have of their own social time. While some students are the primary drivers of these distractions, almost all other students take these distractions as permission to chat amongst themselves. 

Their laptops and phones are constant distractions. They can be closed temporarily and confiscated but eventually they will need them to do some work as the school has the cloud-based notepad OneNote as their primary method of note taking. Many, if not all of the students in the class cannot be relied upon to bring even a pen to class, they see it as an excuse to go to their locker to pick one up if they need one. And yet, the only reliable way to get some work and engagement from the students is the use of puzzles such as crosswords, word finds and cryptics, which they seem happy enough to complete on paper once they borrow a pen. 

]]> 2019-10-31 04:58:30 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404846622 What's in place 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404847287 For 9C, engagement needs to be rethought from scratch and the class needs a disruptive force to reset the class dynamic. Attempts to implement a class contract (De Nobile, Lyons & Arthur-Kelly, 2017) have failed. Another option for bringing them in line is the School Wide Behaviour Support Program (VDET, 2019) that the school had been implementing. This has also had little effect, but It should be noted however that the SWBSP was relatively new to the school and may not have had enough time to take effect. A “class behaviour plan” which involves putting them under constant scrutiny and constantly reporting to middle school leaders and parents has also been implemented.

De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive Learning Environments: Creating and Maintaining Productive Classrooms (1st edition.. ed.): South Melbourne, Vic. Cengage Learning.

Victorian Department of education and Training, 2019, School Wide Behaviour Support Program: An introduction for school Principals. Retrieved from https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/management/improvement/swpbsintro.pdf]]> 2019-10-31 05:03:06 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404847287 Finding the Key 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404847421 The cultural clique that the class as created for itself could be analysed through Gee's social domains (2010). Gee suggested that a social identities arise in any social group. when this happens the social group forms a domain in which those within the group are teaching and assessing members and newcomers through the lens of the social norms and skills of that group. This would suggest that the class is engaging in and learning but not learning that is privy to those outside their domain. As the domain is, at least in part, exclusionary of the teacher, it has become very difficult to connect or gain insight into what that learning is. We can take a guess on that part, but this exclusionary domain also obscures the desires and passions of the students, making it difficult to find those engagement hooks. 

A few small details do emerge from their behaviour that gives us clues as to their overall driving factors and motivators. Firstly, the act of “playing games” and being disruptive is more rewarding than the provided game. It is certain that while few if any of the students would be deeply cognisant of what they are doing they are playing a real game. The game is a social one where social points are being scored based on how disruptive and disrespectful they are being. Secondly, their engagement with written puzzles. These puzzles are often knowledge based, occupying the lowest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956). They engage in remembering, identifying and matching with the occasional requirement to classify. In both cases there are some key aspects that can be identified as the students’ needs being met in ways that do not engage them strongly with the class or lesson. 

Bloom, B. S. e. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives : the classification of educational goals: New York : David Mckay
Longman Group.

Gee, J. P. (2010). Human Action and Social Groups as the Natural Home of Assessment: Thoughts on 21st Century Learning and Assessment. In V. J. Shute & B. J. Becker (Eds.), Innovative Assessment for the 21st Century: Supporting Educational Needs (pp. 13-39). Boston, MA: Springer US.

]]> 2019-10-31 05:04:03 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404847421 Success 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404847836 One of the key drivers of motivation and engagement is success (Atkinson as cited in Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner, & Krause, 2012). What a person has previously succeeded in is something they feel motivated to try hard and succeed again. This becomes a positive feedback loop where a persons previous experience dictates both their relationship to the subject or experience and also their ability to succeed further. 

In the case of 9C they have seen large amount of success in their social and cultural interactions but less so in their academic spheres, particularly as a group.

Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bochner, S., & Krause, K.-L. (2012). Educational psychology : for learning and teaching (4th edition.. ed.): South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia : Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.

]]> 2019-10-31 05:07:27 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404847836 Agency 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404848072 A persons agency is a strong factor in student engagement. This factor can work in both ways. Too much agency and students will find themselves directionless and liable to not be able to finish tasks due to roadblocks (Deed et al, 2014). Not enough agency and students do not take responsibility for their own learning or their own behaviour (Churchill et al, 2013) 

9C has demonstrated that giving them agency often leads to them using that agency to do anything except for what they should have been doing. This means they have little agency and little experience with self motivation.

Churchill, R., Ferguson, P., Godinho, S., Johnson, N. F., Keddie, A., Letts, W. J., . . . Vick, M. (2013). Teaching : making a difference (2nd edition. ed.): Milton, Qld. : John Wiley and Sons.

Deed, C., Cox, P., Dorman, J., Edwards, D., Farrelly, C., Keeffe, M., . . . Yager, Z. (2014). Personalised learning in the open classroom: The mutuality of teacher and student agency. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 9(1), 66-75. doi:10.1080/18334105.2014.11082020]]> 2019-10-31 05:09:05 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404848072 Social Validation 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404848094 Social validation comes in many forms. From the teacher (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner, & Krause, 2012)., parents or classmates (Wentzel as cited in Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner, & Krause, 2012).. Whether its feedback, a relatable comment or a shared joke, people need to know that they are being listened to and taken seriously. 

This is probably one of the hardest sections for 9C they are gaining large amounts of social validation from peers but very little from teachers. This is driven in no small part by their behaviour and disrespect creating a barrier between them and the adults in their lives. It will be hard to remedy. 

Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bochner, S., & Krause, K.-L. (2012). Educational psychology : for learning and teaching (4th edition.. ed.): South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia : Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.]]> 2019-10-31 05:09:16 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404848094 Mental Stimulation 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404848125 Motivation through mental stimulation is achieved when a person is engaged with a task that they find interesting and is appropriately difficult. Students become motivated with a task when it feels achievable with their current skills and knowledge and provides a chance to develop new or more advanced skills and knowledge (Churchill et al, 2013) 

If a task is too difficult or too easy students will either give up or not bother. They will not receive any intrinsic reward for completing the task, even if they receive an extrinsic one. 

Churchill, R., Ferguson, P., Godinho, S., Johnson, N. F., Keddie, A., Letts, W. J., . . . Vick, M. (2013). Teaching : making a difference (2nd edition. ed.): Milton, Qld. : John Wiley and Sons.]]> 2019-10-31 05:09:33 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404848125 Learning from Games 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404863177 The class requires a change of pace that is ongoing and not a simple single activity or project. This restructuring must answer the 4 motivating factors identified in the class; success, agency, social validation and mental stimulation. The solution must do so in such a way as to reinforce positive behaviour, relationships and personal images. 

This is not a simple task.

All of the engagement issues are ones that are handled by games, particularly video games. For instance, Overwatch by Blizzard Entertainment has several inbuilt mechanisms to help with player engagement and motivation. Overwatch is a team based first person shooter in which two teams attempt to complete opposing objectives in various environments. Each team is comprised of six players who must choose from a list of widely varied heroes to play as. To be successful a team must comprise a good balance of damage dealers, healers and tanks (protection heroes). Crucially each of these three roles have different jobs to do and what is considered "success" in any given role is different. This allows players of different skill, accuracy and reflexes to feel like they are contributing to the teams overall success in different ways. The most successful players are ones who combine teamwork, game knowledge, planning and adaptability.

Aside from these intrinsic motivators Overwatch also employs several extrinsic methods of player engagement. These include regular rewards just for playing and the Play of the Game (POTG) at the end of each match. The POTG is one stand out moment that a single player achieved during the game. The POTG is not dependant on who won or lost but is a recognition of a players individual contribution their team in a single crucial moment (see attached video).


]]> 2019-10-31 07:08:47 UTC https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/404863177 A long term solution 102087555 https://padlet.com/102087555/3rf10zv7g5ht/wish/407252939 Overwatch has 4 key methods of building player engagement, all of which could be implemented in some way in the classroom.
Some are familiar to the education system. For instance, 1. players are rewarded for engaging in the game in the ways that they want. They can customise their playstyle to what they find rewarding and give them success. Similarly, we strive to differentiate for our students to help them find their own success.
2. Players are rewarded simply for engaging in the game. This is not necessarily true for schools, rewards and encouragements are often seen as conditional on success rather than simply for the core activities of the classroom. Showing respect, engaging in discussions, completing work. If we do reward these behaviours it is because the students have not previously been engaging in them. 
3. Rewards for teamwork. Another staple of the classroom.
4. Rewards for outstanding effort. A memorable moment or a great play, regardless of if them win or lose. See, POTG.

The solution therefore for 9C could be to build student engagement the same way that a game builds its engagement. A team game is about competition but this might turn off less competitive students (De Nobile, Lyons, & Arthur-Kelly, 2017). To get around this we can have students work in "parties" and "teams". A party in this case is a permanent small group of students, 2 or 3, who are choosing to work together. A team is a temporary group of 2 - 3 parties who the students do not chose and must work together for 1 or 2 lessons. A reward system is then put in place that awards points for positive behaviour, engagement, strong social skills and achievement at the team level. at the end of the lesson all team points are applies to the parties in an ongoing tally in which one party is awarded a victory at the end of the term. It is important these points can be earned in multiple ways and not just achievement. This is similar to the Positive Behaviour Support in that it focuses only on positive behaviour and rewarding that behaviour (VDET, 2019) but extends it in way that makes the victory more personal for the parties but also requires students to work together for a broader more common goal in teams. As teams are constantly changing it gives a chance for weaker parties to work together with stronger ones and build their skills through peer learning (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Krause, 2012).

Further, the class or teacher at the end of the lesson takes a moment to recognise the good work of a single student or party. This is a chance for the class to reflect on the lesson and a chance for students to receive praise and gain success for the little things that make the class environment good rather than large achievements. It is important that students and teachers remember that this reward should not be denied to a student if they have otherwise been disengaged or poorly behaved. It is about rewarding good things when they happen. 

De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive Learning Environments: Creating and Maintaining Productive Classrooms (1st edition.. ed.): South Melbourne, Vic. Cengage Learning.

Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bochner, S., & Krause, K.-L. (2012). Educational psychology : for learning and teaching (4th edition.. ed.): South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia : Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.

Victorian Department of education and Training, 2019, School Wide Behaviour Support Program: An introduction for school Principals. Retrieved from https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/management/improvement/swpbsintro.pdf

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