Calling Out for Engagement

I sat down in the middle school faculty room and began chatting with a teacher. She began,  "Kids these days don't have respect. They want to question, argue, and they always want to to know why they have to do something. Why can't they just listen and do as they are told?" I thought for a moment. While I learned to keep my mouth shut in most faculty room conversations, I decided this was a time I had to speak up.

I asked, “Do we want to teach a generation of kids to grow up not questioning? Is compliance what schools should be creating? What might happen if we raised people to simply listen and follow directions?”  While I empathize with that teacher-- it is difficult to be a middle school teacher and to listen to the “why do we have to do this?” all day long-- we need to keep the bigger picture in perspective. We do not want to raise a generation of submissive children because they will turn into submissive adults.
 
We need to re-examine the way success is labeled in schools for both teachers and students. Are teachers successful if they simply get their students to pass state tests and hand in their homework? Is compliance in the game of school success? Is a class of obedient students the sign of a successful classroom? If your answer is no, then how do we as educators find ways to vocalize this and support each other. It can be scary to be the teacher with the class full of active questioners and advocates. Maybe rather than complimenting one another on a clean and pretty classroom or a quiet hallway line we should be complimenting on another on creating an environment where students take risks and ask big, important, life-changing questions-- students who do not settle for the “because I told you so” answer.

We often confuse engagement and compliance. Students who passively sit in rows, take notes, raise their hands only when called on, and never question why they are doing all of this are compliant. This does not necessarily mean they are engaged. Engagement is an active process that cannot be created by another person, not even a teacher. No one can force engagement. Engagement is when the bell rings and you can't believe time flew by so fast, when you look up at the clock and realize you accidentaly skipped meals, when you struggle, debate, theorize, and do not settle for easy answers or pat responses. Engagement is a commitment. Commitment to a deep, personal sense of knowing that no one else can give you. You must experience it for yourself.


Students who make us explain why and who will not sit passively and consume our words are the ones we should listen to. They are messengers. Reminding us that we are not aiming for compliance.  So perhaps my lunchroom colleague (and all of us teachers) can stop and take a deep breath the next time we hear, "but why?" and smile. We can be grateful that our students are engaged in their own learning and will not settle for classroom environments that focus on compliance. They are demanding more. They are calling out for engagement.