In this article in Language Magazine, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey (San Diego State University and Health Sciences High and Middle College) say students’ behavior may suggest they’re engaged – hands raised, looking at the teacher, doing the work. But that “does not necessarily reveal how deeply students are thinking,” say Fisher and Frey, “how connected they feel to the classroom community, or whether they see themselves as capable learners.”
This is especially important for English learners, who may be cognitively engaged but holding back for fear of saying something incorrectly. “Silence, therefore, should not automatically be interpreted as disengagement,” say Fisher and Frey. They urge teachers to be proactive, designing the classroom environment to maximize engagement for all students.
- Begin with invitation. Two questions on ELs’ minds: Is my thinking wanted here? Does it have to be expressed in grammatically correct English? Teachers can address these uncertainties by making a point of welcoming contributions from all students, encouraging them to share their thinking, and giving students the chance to rehearse ideas with partners before speaking in front of the class. It’s also helpful to use visuals to support communication and connect curriculum content to students’ prior experiences.
- Make belonging visible. “Students continually notice who gets heard, who receives support, whose ideas are taken seriously, and who seems to matter,” say Fisher and Frey. ELs need to get the message that they belong and their participation is genuinely welcomed. This means pronouncing their names correctly, including community and cultural references in lessons, calling on all students (including the quiet ones), expanding on their responses, and not allowing students to be interrupted by classmates.
- Make learning clear without making it easy. “Clarity does not mean simplifying the intellectual work,” say Fisher and Frey. Teachers need to communicate robust learning goals “in accessible language, unpacking important vocabulary, modeling processes, providing examples and nonexamples, using visuals and demonstrations, checking understanding frequently, and making success criteria visible.”
- Protect the challenge while providing the support. ELs “need access to the same rich thinking, complex texts, interesting problems, academic conversations, and intellectually demanding experiences as their peers,” say the authors. “The teacher’s task, then, is not to remove struggle but to distinguish between productive struggle and unnecessary barriers… The principle is simple: scaffold access, not thinking… Students might examine a diagram before reading, discuss observations with a partner, annotate a text, use sentence frames when helpful, sketch their thinking, or rehearse an explanation before sharing it publicly.”
- Expand what counts as participation. Fisher and Frey urge teachers to look beyond conventional notions of engagement and ask, “Are students making meaning? Are they interacting with ideas? Are they explaining their thinking to someone? Are they asking questions? Are they revising their thinking? Are they using feedback? Are they connecting new learning to what they already know?”
- Building voice and agency. Intentionally shift from students responding to the teacher’s questions and receiving support (which are important) to students themselves asking questions, requesting clarification, seeking feedback, expressing preferences, monitoring their progress, adjusting the strategies they’re using, and contributing ideas as learning unfolds. This is especially important, say the authors, in moving ELs from uncertainty to confidence.
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