How teachers can engage effectively with their students

Being able to engage effectively with students is vital for teachers, regardless of the age of the students and whether the ‘teacher’ is addressing a school class or a group of employees. Effective engagement helps teachers to build relationships with the students and keep them interested in the learning process, and improve learning outcomes.
However, a teacher who is educating teenagers will use different strategies to engage with their students when compared to a trainer who is training adults in a business context.

Why is it important to engage with students?

Regardless of their age, engaging with students and forming strong relationships with them is key to making them feel comfortable, and thereby improving their capacity to learn. The process can be challenging, but earning the trust of students early on can really help with forming these relationships.

Ways to engage with students

There is a range of approaches a teacher could use to engage with their students. Some of these strategies are applicable for students of any age and in any context, but there are also some differences in how you should approach teenagers and adults.

Creating structure

For younger students in a classroom, structure is important to make them feel safe and comfortable. This includes having a clearly defined routine, setting out expectations, and following through when boundaries are ignored. When training adults, providing some structure is helpful, especially if the topic is new and potentially uncomfortable for them. However, less rigidity is required and there’s additional flexibility to deviate from the structure if necessary.

Being passionate and positive

Enthusiasm and positivity are infectious. If trainers want to engage with their students and get them on their side, being passionate and enthusiastic about the topic and having a positive attitude can really help. A positive attitude includes regularly offering praise and recognition for achievements and hard work.

Showing an interest in students

Showing genuine interest is a great way to engage with another person, regardless of their age. Teachers who make an effort to find out more about their students and take an interest in their activities outside the classroom are able to build stronger relationships. In the context of school education, this could be achieved by attending extracurricular activities, such as sports matches, whilst in the business environment it could be all about running team building events. Whilst this level of involvement is usually not necessary during short-term training for adults, getting to know the students a bit more through casual conversation can help to foster positive relationships.

Including your students’ interests in lessons

Investment in students can be demonstrated by incorporating their interests or passions into lessons and discussions, by paying attention to the information they share about themselves. When training adults in a business context, incorporating their specific job roles or the industry they work in into the training might help them to see how the training session is relevant for them specifically.

Showing respect

For students of all ages to feel confident in the classroom, and feel that they can trust the trainer, treating them with respect at all times is important. Students should never be belittled, embarrassed, or singled out. Adults also need to feel confident so that they’re empowered to learn, so showing respect is vital in this context.

Incorporating story-telling

Story-telling is a great way to engage with students. It helps to humanise the teacher and can make them seem more approachable. It can also motivate students to learn because it reduces the monotony that some students feel in the classroom.
In a business context with adult students, simulations work very well as the “story” that is portrayed, being really relevant to their jobs,
Stories are told to illustrate and reinforce concepts, which makes them easier to learn and understand. Simulations offer the very best way of telling that ‘story’, since all the students get to be ‘actors’ on the stage that is set, they get to work through and solve the problem, not just listen to it. This puts a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘learning on the job’…
For more information on how business simulations can make a real difference to your organisation, contact Prendo – https://www.prendo.com/