18th November 2014

It came to my attention whilst teaching one of my Religious Education lessons today that many
students were not engaged in the learning process, thus making me question how I could improve
on future lessons to increase participation in the classroom. After a discussion with my associate
teacher about the number of Indigenous students in the class, she provided me with further insight
into promoting engagement in the classroom using techniques such as;
- Hands on experiences
- Working collaboratively
- Student choice
As I wanted to further enhance my understanding of ways to promote engagement and
participation in the classroom, particularly for the number of Indigenous students we had in the
classroom I did some further research this evening to explore this concept. I used a reading which I
had previously obtained from my volunteer school which was especially insightful as it explored
Culturally Appropriate Contexts and ways effective teachers can demonstrate, create and maintain
culturally appropriate classrooms on a daily basis (Meyers, 2014). This research provided me with
a range of ways to increase engagement levels, whilst also providing a culturally appropriate
learning context (Meyers, 2014, p.3). A number of points I have listed below and taken from this
reading will be implemented into my practices as they coincide with the techniques suggested by
my associate teacher, further enhancing my knowledge of culturally appropriate ways to enhance
engagement:
- Providing planned opportunities for students to be self-determine about how they deliver/
present their learning (Meyers, 2014, p.6)
- Providing opportunities for students to work collaboratively to support one another in
learning (Meyers, 2014, p.6)
- Demonstrating a willingness to learn from he cultural knowledge students and their
families bring to the learning context (Meyers, 2014, p.6)
- The students see their lives and their interests reflected in the learning contexts (Mey
ers, 2014, p.6)