Student engagement is crucial for learning, but maintaining it consistently has become challenging for educators. The pandemic accelerated a decline in engagement, and constant stimulation from technology has further diminished students’ willingness to explore independently.
Educators now face the dual challenge of competing with these distractions while providing compelling reasons—answering the critical “why?”—to keep students interested in learning.
Recent studies highlight that student engagement increases when students feel personally invested in what they are learning. At Alexander Wilson Elementary School, real-world projects have reignited student engagement. By engaging students in solving real-world global challenges—such as water sanitation or responsible consumption—action-driven lessons have made subjects exciting and relevant, connecting students deeply to their communities.
However, the benefits of action-driven learning go beyond the classroom: Students who are taught from an early age that they have agency and can take action to improve the world are far more likely to be career-ready upon graduation.
Here’s how this worked for us, and how it can work for you too.
1. Build a structure to support action-driven learning
The first step in implementing an action-driven approach to learning is building a solid structure that ensures teachers have the resources and support they need. Our action-driven projects directly address global challenges. Each quarter builds on the previous one—starting by learning about the issues, proceeding to community engagement and finally taking meaningful action:
- First quarter: Teachers introduce a global challenge and students learn about its importance.
- Second quarter: Students explore a local, national or international organization to learn how the organization addresses the global challenge.
- Third quarter: Students participate by working with the organization, promoting it or inviting speakers to present.
- Fourth quarter: Students reflect on what they learned and consider how to use the experience to make the world a better place.
2. Connect content with action
Research has shown that students are more engaged when they actively participate in their learning. At our school, if you asked students about their favorite days from the year, they would likely mention hands-on projects such as the creation of composting bins, our creek-clean-up day or the Kids’ Heart Challenge. These experiences help students connect academic content to real-world issues, making subjects more relatable and memorable.
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This approach not only benefits students but also teachers. When educators witness the enthusiasm and deeper understanding that comes from action-based learning, they become more motivated to develop similar projects.
3. Don’t let the timeframe overwhelm your team
So often school leaders are expected to make changes immediately, but don’t be afraid to take a year or two to implement your action-driven framework. We took a full year to plan how to incorporate this educational framework into our curriculum to ensure we mapped out exactly how we wanted each quarter to look. The more you plan in the beginning, the more likely you are to succeed.
That being said, once you implement the framework, know that it’s OK if it’s not perfect the first year. Expect to need time to reflect and make changes to your approach.
4. Start with the youngest students
Although it might seem like action-driven projects would be more suited to older students, younger students also have amazing experiences through these projects.
For example, after learning about filtering and cleaning polluted water, our kindergartners were incredibly engaged in witnessing the magic of this action in the world. Another class took part in “Dirt Day”, where they learned about the impact worms have on dirt. At the end of the day, they took worms home and put them in their own gardens.
Incorporating action-driven learning from the early grades shows students that education extends beyond the classroom and impacts the world around them. This early connection between academics and the real world not only enriches their educational experience but also fosters sustained student engagement.
