This article critically examines the concept of 'engagement' as it has emerged within two distinct bodies of literature in the fields of art education and the psychology of education. In order to grapple with the heterogeneous nature of this literature, a meta-narrative review was conducted whereby recurring narratives from various sub-fields including special educational needs, gallery education and human development, were systematically identified and analysed in order to clarify the diversity of ways in which the concept of engagement is used within different research traditions. Areas of overlap between the ways in which the concept is understood and treated within these various texts were examined, as well as a consideration of the potential for any tensions to arise between them. It will be argued that the gap between the manner in which learner engagement is conceived and employed within these disciplines is not as wide as one might presume and that rather than these being incongruous with one another, in many respects, the approaches adopted within each discipline are complementary. It will be suggested that with further disciplinary exchange, especially with respect to the role of educational artefacts and social signals arising during the learning process, wider scope arises for advancing our understanding of learner engagement.
Background context to the literature review
Modelling learner engagement: recent directions in the psychology of educationThe impetus behind the psychological study of engagement has been driven by a practical motivation among psychologists to understand and enhance student Engagement in the psychology of education and art education 267
This study explores the exercise of student agency in an alternative educational setting in England by considering students' verbal interactions during an art lesson where they created masks, and in an engineering lesson where they developed model rockets. We build on Rainio's ( 2008) operationalisation of student agency by drawing attention to some of the more particular linguistic features which characterise the exercise of agency in immediate classroom situations. Our findings demonstrate that the participating students were responding to, renegotiating or resisting their teacher's agendas in subtle ways, depending on the contingencies of the moment.
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