Student Engagement in Higher Education

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Multiculturalism
Student Engagement
Engagement and Student Outcomes
Educationally Purposeful Engagement
Understanding Before Acting
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Student engagement is among the most important of an educational process, which determines the overall success of the learning outcomes. It is important to note that one should be willing to incorporate multicultural perspectives to facilitate a more encompassing and in-depth student engagement, which is a challenging task at hand. The given reflection essay will primarily focus on the fact that multiculturalism and diversity are critical elements of student engagement facilitation, and unintentional or deliberate negligence can cause major ramifications in student behavior both in-class and out-class. Since the American education system is becoming more diverse, educators need to be aware of the intricacies and complexities of multicultural aspects of student engagement.

Multiculturalism

One of the most critical reflections on the given subject is rooted in the notion of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is a concept that occupies the minds of many specialists in various fields, such as culture, sociology, philosophy, and politics. This interest is due to the specifics of the globalization process and mass culture, which blur the boundaries between religious, ethnic, and traditional groups. The challenges of multiculturalism are reflected in the ideas and practice of multicultural education. Multicultural education is an indispensable requirement for multicultural communities. Its supporters proceed from the fact that the future of civilization and individual states to a large extent depends on the quality of preparation of the younger generation for life and activity in a multicultural, interdependent world.

Multicultural learning, which has become an independent direction in education, has emerged as an urgent need to get rid of interethnic and interreligious hostility among students. An equally significant role in the development of multicultural education was played by the Standards for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, formulated by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), according to which all teacher training institutions were required to implement courses and programs on multicultural education in teacher training (NCATE, 2008). Thus, one can see that the process of development of multiculturalism and multicultural education is closely related to the development of society and is justified by its needs. These needs forced American teachers to create such an education system that would meet the needs of a multicultural society both in the process of teaching itself and in the process of education, which, in my opinion, cannot be shared at school. This process is characterized by evolutionary changes in the field of education and upbringing rather than revolutionary changes. In other words, at each subsequent stage, there is enrichment and further development of previous achievements in the multicultural movement.

Student Engagement

The second element of the reflection is manifested in the idea of student engagement. It is important to note that student engagement is a critical element of an education process, which is especially relevant in a multicultural context. It is stated: “student engagement is simply characterized as participation in educationally effective practices, both inside and outside the classroom, which leads to a range of measurable outcomes” (Quaye & Harper, 2015, p. 2). In other words, the given process directly affects the student activities and performance not only in classrooms but also outside the latter. For example, in the movie Higher Learning, Remy is an example of how the failure to promote student engagement in a multicultural context can lead to dire consequences, where a fairly promising student becomes a white supremacist since there were no opposite influences (Singleton, 1995). Educators need to be aware that they have the power and authority to facilitate student engagement by taking into consideration diverse perspectives where no group is left unengaged. Similarly, Afrocentric attitudes of individuals, such as Fudge White, can also be disruptive at improving student engagement in a multicultural context (Singleton, 1995). The results can manifest themselves both academically and practically, where racial and ethnic groups become separated or neglected due to the lack of collaboration.

The educational process is based on the interaction of teachers and students. It constitutes the essential characteristic of the process since, due to its specificity, it is a deliberate interaction, as a result of which there are mutual changes in the behavior, activities, and relations of the subjects of interaction. Therefore, interaction with teachers in educational or extracurricular activities becomes a serious indicator of the involvement of students in the educational process. It is generally accepted that the leading activity of students is an educational activity. It significantly affects the development of mental processes, the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and abilities. The educational activity is characterized by increasing mental and emotional stress. The effective educational activity is impossible without appropriate activity. Learning activity in its traditional understanding is the desire and desire of students to acquire as much knowledge as possible, dedication, perseverance, and efficiency. Meanwhile, as modern teachers note, most students have a strong gap between the desire to achieve social success and an understanding of how this can be done. There is an understanding of “what I want,” but there is no understanding of how this “want” can be realized in an individual life situation. The solution to this contradiction can be the involvement of students in different types of educational activities.

Engagement and Student Outcomes

One of the critical aspects of student engagement is the fact that it has a direct impact on student outcomes. It is stated that a student can be influenced by a college not only through academic activities but also extracurricular and interpersonal ones, which are usually provided on a campus area (Quaye & Harper, 2015). The given subject is even more essential under the current conditions of the pandemic, where online learning is becoming more and more predominant. The research suggests that online education is not as collaborative and engaging as traditional formats, which is why the concept of student engagement needs to be emphasized under the current conditions (Paulsen & McCormick, 2020). In addition, the importance is also rooted in the fact that educationally purposeful engagement results in improvements in areas, such as intellectual and cognitive development as well as proper gender and racial identity development (Quaye & Harper, 2015). In addition, the majority of positive learning outcomes are the result of student engagement, which can be achieved through effective teaching methodological frameworks (Collaço, 2020). In other words, student engagement in a multicultural setting is of paramount importance since it not only benefits students academically but also allows them to build more inclination to value diversity and involvement through understanding.

Therefore, the third reflection point is manifested in the fact that student engagement is not a mere academically incentivized concept but rather a comprehensive and thorough enhancement of all critical areas of a student’s life, which is especially relevant in the context of multiculturalism. For example, it is evident that in the movie, the college failed to provide student engagement to the students, which is why there were issues among African American students, such as Fudge, female students, such as Kristen, LGBT students, such as Taryn, and White students, such as Remy (Singleton, 1995). Although the film pictures a more extreme case scenario, where a student becomes highly hostile towards other minority groups, it is evident that problems will inevitably occur if student engagement is not promoted in all areas of student life. A lack of an engaging academic environment as well as an absence of extracurricular and interpersonal activities can result in poorer student outcomes. Therefore, there is a clear incentive for educators to develop such activities, especially in multicultural educational units, since it has positive effects on all aspects of students’ lives.

Educationally Purposeful Engagement

The fourth reflected is based on the notion of distinguishing the concepts of involvement and engagement. It is stated that “while conceptually similar, there is a key qualitative difference between involvement and engagement: it is entirely possible to be involved in something without being engaged” (Quaye & Harper, 2015, p. 4). In other words, student engagement offers a wide range of major benefits to students, but it is important to be precise in its definition and not to confuse it with involvement. Unaware educators might be willing to make serious attempts to make students engaged, but their efforts might result in the fact that the learners are merely involved in the promoted activities. Unlike involvement, student engagement is highly multifaceted or multidimensional, where engagement is comprised of actions, emotions, and thoughts, and these are interconnected with teaching, learning, community, research, faculty and staff, and other students (Groccia, 2018). Thus, one should be aware that involvement is more observable aspect of students’ actions since it is relatively easy to monitor whether or not a student is attending or involved in certain activities. However, student engagement needs to provoke more in-depth processes, which requires some form of emotional, cognitive, and intellectual investments besides time allocated into these activities.

Therefore, educators should make the mistake of confusing the terms of involvement and engagement because the latter is more delicate and intricate than the former. Such characteristics of student engagement make it rather challenging to effectively incorporate and measure a student’s engagement, where one can be present in an activity but not invested or engaged in it. For example, one can argue that the movie demonstrated the case of student engagement facilitation, which was primarily catalyzed by professor Maurice Phipps, who gave complete freedom to students to formulate their own political ideologies (Singleton, 1995). Subsequently, one can also argue that the lack of student engagement through the teaching methods of Maurice Phipps in regards to Remy might be the result of poor student outcomes. In other words, both Malik and Kristen took Maurice Phipps’s class, which positively influenced these students, which is why Fudge White Afrocentric views did not negatively affect Malik’s behavior, whereas Remy underwent major downfalls into a white supremacist ideology (Singleton, 1995). It can be stated that if Remy had been exposed to Phipps’s teaching methods, which invoked student engagement, the student would not have become a white supremacist. Instead, he might have developed more multiculturalist views on the basis of engagement, where he would have been emotionally, cognitively, and intellectually invested in a discussion about a wide range of ideologies. However, since he was only exposed to individuals, such as Scott, he was not able to properly assess these radical views, and in conjunction with his emotionally vulnerable state, led to the shooting and murder.

Understanding Before Acting

The final reflection is manifested in the fact that creating learning environments, which are optimal, can be challenging and might require more in-depth analysis beforehand. Educators might become eager to facilitate student engagement after learning about the potential positive benefits of its incorporation in the educational process, but it is critical to have a full understanding of the situation among students before attempting to enhance engagement. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for an educator to be reciprocal and attentive with students since by forcefully imposing his or her student engagement measures might result in a mere involvement (Quaye & Harper, 2015). It is vital for teachers to listen to their students, which is especially relevant in a multicultural context, where the majority group might be reluctant or hostile to new teaching methods, which are designed to cultural elements of minority groups. In other words, educators should not proceed to facilitate student engagement by solely relying on their own insights and understandings but rather be cooperative and collaborative with students in order to properly assess their needs and interests.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the current educational system in the United States and many other nations are moving towards a multiculturalist environment. Therefore, student engagement is becoming more important and relevant because it offers an array of key benefits, which are not solely limited to academic endeavors. Student engagement provides a number of positive student outcomes, but it should not be confused with student involvement. The former requires facilitating an educationally purposeful engagement, whereas the latter is more frivolous and superficial. However, an educator needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the student opinions before proceeding with the incorporation of student engagement facilitating strategies.

References

Collaço, C. M. (2020). Increasing student engagement in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 17(4), 40–47.

Groccia, J. E. (2018). What is student engagement?New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2018(154), 11–20.

NCATE. (2008). Professional Standards Accreditation of Teacher Preparation Institutions [PDF document]. Web.

Paulsen, J., & McCormick, A. C. (2020). Reassessing disparities in online learner student engagement in higher education. Educational Researcher, 49(1), 20–29.

Quaye, S. J., & Harper, S. R. (Eds.). (2015). Student engagement in higher education: Theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Singleton, J. (1995). Higher Learning [Film]. Sony Pictures.

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