“The kids right in front of us often have the most useful information within them — information that can help us reach and teach them [–]help us engage them . . . ” –Elena Aguilar

Students are a valuable resource

Student engagement matters. Research has consistently shown that increased student engagement results in improved learning outcomes^[1]. We often talk about how to better engage our students, and a Google search of “how to engage students” produces over 573 million results. But with so many available resources, it’s easy to forget about the expert voices sitting right next to us. 

Students want (and need) opportunities to apply what they learn

When asked what they like to learn about, students often throw out their favorite subjects: English, Science, Math. Some get more specific — aviation, marine biology, education — revealing potential future career paths

Yet, while students have their own passions and interests, the students I interviewed this week spoke much less about what they want to learn as they did about how they want to learn.

“I don’t like to be told everything,” said Thea, a junior attending school outside of Philadelphia. “I need to discover it for myself.” Thea, like other students I spoke with, expressed frustration with teachers that rely heavily on lectures to convey information. “I’m a learner who is very interested in the ‘why’ of something,” she explained. “I need to understand [the subject] both in principle and in application.”

The value of having the opportunity to apply their knowledge was a refrain amongst all the students. 

Efe, an 11th grade student, explained that the projects that have helped him learn the most have been those that involve “students doing some kind of action.” He gave an example from his biology class: “Last term,” he told me, “I was asked to go outside and measure the biodiversity of plants. I was able to really understand the idea of biodiversity because I wasn’t just sitting in front of a computer or behind a desk.”

Similarly, Thea’s English final, a PechaKucha presentation on the removal of confederate statues in the South, asked her to demonstrate multiple skills: distilling information from diverse sources, writing clearly and concisely, and practicing time management. She loved that project because it required her to practice valuable skills and the content felt relevant to what’s happening in the world today.   

Efe said it most concisely: “There’s learning,” he told me, “but then there’s applying it!”

Lozen, an 8th grade student participating in a learning pod in Portland, OR, echoed the sentiments of the high school students: “I like to be able to do something with what we’re learning,” she said.  Her classmate, Clayton, gave an example from his science class: “When we were learning about the nucleus and atoms,” he said, “my teacher had the class build a representation of the cell from scratch.” Clayton expressed regret that he did not have more opportunities like this: “I wish that we had more time to use math in physical scenarios like building tiny houses or things for our community.”

Multiple students talked about wanting to apply their learning outside of school. 

Luc, also an 11th grade student, explained that he likes “to learn about things that can enhance the world around [him].” “Learning is fun when I’m given real world examples,” he explained. “Like case studies for business and real world problems that let me apply my prior learning to the subject.”

Mayah, a  junior who attends school in Miami, FL,  dreams of being an elementary school teacher. She is currently taking a dual-enrollment education class with a local college. Recently, she was asked to write an essay describing her teaching philosophy. “We had to read about a bunch of American philosophers and talk about how they influenced education,” Mayah explained. “ [Then] talk about the guidelines of our classroom [and] discuss how we’re going to be with parents and students.” This was the most valuable assignment Mayah said she’s ever had. It made her think about the kind of teacher she wants to be. Unlike the busy work and high-stakes state testing she criticized, this essay felt important and worthwhile. 

As teachers and parents, we often worry about what we teach, fueled by the external pressures of “covering the content,” but when we listen to our students, what they are asking for is not more content, but more opportunities to use what they learn, to practice and apply it.

Jennifer Gonzelez, middle school teacher and founder of the Cult of Pedagogy, suggests that a combination of  high-stakes testing, administrative micromanagement, and insufficient teacher preparation have fueled  an “epidemic of passive learning” in our schools where worksheets have replaced authentic learning experiences. Passive learning is a recipe for disengaged students. She outlines multiple strategies teachers and parents can incorporate to make sure students are getting what they’re asking for: the opportunity to DO something with what they’ve learned. 

Bring the world into the classroom.

We’ve all heard an adult tell a young person, “Well, wait until you get into the real world,” as if there is some gaping chasm between the life of our students in school and the world they walk into when they leave. 

It’s understandable that this imagined dichotomy leaves students frustrated. Young people carry the weight of the world with them into their classrooms. They think about issues in their communities, their families, their future careers, and, when their learning seems detached from their daily reality, they are left wondering: Why does this matter?

Educational philosopher, John Dewey, argues that education should always be relevant to students’ lives. Effective education experiences, he writes in Democracy and Education, “give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, or the intentional noting of connections; learning naturally results.”

As Dewey reminds us, learning is innate. The world is our first classroom. That experience should not end when school begins. Each of these students is looking for ways that their learning applies to the world in which they live. It’s important that we make sure that it does.

And if you’re not sure where to start, ask your students.