Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning: Supporting Students through Structure and Community

Student engagement is fundamental to learning, yet it also constitutes a major and long-standing challenge to educators around the world. This book provides an evidence-based theorisation of features associated with schooling engagement, along with targeted strategies that underpin a continuum of pedagogical, curricular and social support during the years of young adolescent schooling. Anchored by the Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning Model, a multi-layered model which incorporates a continuum of behavioural, emotional and cognitive dimensions of engagement, the authors provide a framework to help support the engagement of young adolescents. Seamlessly integrating theory and practice, this book explores the importance of avoiding educational disengagement, particularly from those who are most vulnerable due to a range of personal factors. This volume will be of interest and value to students and scholars of educational young adolescent engagement and retention, as well as those working with young people.

About the Author

Jeanne Allen is Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Griffith University, Australia. A co-editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education , her research specialises in teacher education, teacher identity and student retention. She was named as Australia’s leading researcher in the field of Teaching and Teacher Education in 2018. Glenda McGregor is Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of School (Academic) in the School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Australia. Her research interests include the sociology of youth, alternative and democratic schooling, curriculum and educational reform. Donna Pendergast is Dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University, Australia. An internationally-renowned scholar in the field of middle years education, her research focuses on teacher and school leadership for middle years reform. Michelle Ronksley-Pavia is a research fellow and sessional lecturer at Griffith University, Australia. An award-winning teacher with over 20 years experience, her research focuses on building teacher capacity to support underserved populations of gifted students.