The Problem | EDSIL

Engagement and Disengagement

One of the most difficult things that teachers have to deal with is the pupil who is not motivated to learn. In every class there are pupils who are keen to learn, who ask questions, who want to know more, who are enthusiastic about the subject matter. But there are also likely to be pupils who are uninterested, who do not see the relevance of what they are being taught, who are bored or distracted, who find it too difficult or too easy, and who do not engage with the learning-process. Sometimes they relieve their boredom by distracting other pupils and disrupting the class.

Traditional education systems have often struggled to address this issue, relying on extrinsic motivators such as grades, rewards, and punishments to encourage pupils to learn. However, research has shown that these approaches are often ineffective and can even be counterproductive, leading to a lack of intrinsic motivation and a negative attitude towards learning.

The key lies in interest-driven education. By tapping into pupils' natural interests and passions, we can create learning experiences that are engaging, relevant, and meaningful. When pupils are interested in what they are learning, they are more likely to be motivated to learn, to ask questions, to explore new ideas, and to take ownership of their own learning journey.

Interest-driven education creates learning experiences
that are engaging and self-sustaining.

Our RIDE⋮AI programme is designed to facilitate interest-driven learning by providing pupils with opportunities to explore their interests and passions through project-based, inquiry-based learning and other student-centered approaches. By empowering pupils to take control of their own learning and pursue their own interests, we can help them develop a lifelong love of learning that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Intimidation

Children also often experience the classroom as a place of ridicule. They are afraid to ask questions for fear of being laughed at. They are reluctant to volunteer answers in case they get them wrong and are humiliated. They dread being singled out by teachers for criticism or punishment in front of their peers. They are fearful of being laughed at by their peers and bullied either because they are too keen or because they get things wrong. This creates a climate of fear and anxiety that is not conducive to learning.

Children often experience the classroom as a place of ridicule.

Yet learning requires us to ask questions if we are to meet our particular needs and personal interests, abilities, knowledge and ignorance. It requires us to be able to ask as many questions as we please until we understand. A classroom environment typically militates against pursuit of questions to that extent for the readons adduced. AI by contrast is infinitely patient, never "raises its eyebrows" if we keep asking the same question in pursuit of more and more clarity, and can and will go on explaining forever or until our needs are satisfied. Most teachers neither have the time nor the patience for such personal attention, and as a result pupils are often left feeling frustrated and discouraged or, worse, ridiculed and humiliated.