Perspectives on Engagement: Where Lies the Future on the High Plains?

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Rural School-Community Partnerships

Abstract

Student engagement matters. But what if students, teachers/administrators, and parents hold differing beliefs about what engagement means? To gain a better understanding of varied conceptions of engagement among a rural school community, researchers conducted an instrumental case study in a geographically isolated high school, with a high proportion of low-income students and large Hispanic population. Faculty, students, and parents were interviewed regarding their beliefs about what constitutes school engagement. Preliminary results indicate all constituencies seem to rely on an interpretation of school engagement that is predominantly behavioral (compliance driven) in nature. Finding avenues through which to make improvements in engagement becomes an issue of equity, especially in the context of the cultural, geographic, and economic aspects of this rural community.

Authors

• Linda Feldstein, Fort Hays State University

• Gary Andersen, Fort Hays State University