As a lifelong constructive daydreamer, I wonder now why my own high school results were not better than they were.
Researchers from Britain鈥檚 University of Stirling observed more than 230 children, aged from five to early adulthood, and found that apparent daydreamers did better than their full-attention classmates in tests and problem-solving tasks.
Problematically, for the kids at least, students who stare into space during class and are often dismissed as daydreamers might have a better understanding of the lesson, according to researchers.
If that were the case, I should have finished with a straight 鈥淎鈥� graduation. As it was, I wish my own high school teachers had seen this study. Those wood rulers across the knuckles awakened me more than once.
While it seems unlikely that children actually do better at school if they stare out of the window instead of focusing constantly on the teacher, U of Stirling researchers claim that paying attention sometimes distracts children because their brains are too busy trying to interpret visual cues from the teacher.
Their findings held across a range of different tasks, the researchers said; 鈥渢hese results are important because they show that children avert their gaze when they are trying to carry out a task which is difficult or with which they are not yet familiar.鈥�
There are numerous other studies that have investigated what kids, particularly teenage boys and girls, are actually thinking about during these long daydreaming times.
Some of their findings could be mentioned in this column, some of them best left out.
Another influential study, this one a national initiative by the Canadian Education Association, What Did You Do in School Today? is designed to capture, assess and inspire new ideas for enhancing the learning experiences of adolescents in classrooms and schools.
Since it was launched in 2007, more than 63,000 students have shared their experiences of learning with the CEA in an online survey.
Perhaps the CEA鈥檚 most striking finding, although not one that will surprise teachers with both elementary school and high school experience, is that levels of intellectual engagement fall dramatically as the grades progress.
The decline begins in Grade 5, where kids are apparently engaged about 82 per cent of the time, to Grade 12, when thinking about what the class is actually about apparently happens only 45 per cent of the time.
Being intellectually engaged means learning to use one鈥檚 mind well and includes risk-taking, experimentation, independence and confidence.
It is also about developing the competencies students need to be successful in learning and in life 鈥� skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration and innovation.
Improving low levels of intellectual engagement, the study suggests, might be a more challenging process in secondary schools because of increasing subject specialization, fixed course timetables and the 鈥渨e鈥檝e always done it this way鈥� challenges of generating change in larger schools.
The CEA鈥檚 analysis concludes that there are at least three ways kids engage with school, which are predictors of student success.
First up for most kids is social engagement, meaning participation in the life of the school 鈥� participation in sports and clubs, along with positive friendships. No surprise there, because kids who are happy and active at school mostly do better than those who do not want to be there.
Then there is institutional engagement, meaning a voluntary participation in the requirements of attendance with at least a nod to homework. A 鈥渂iggie鈥� here is about the value students place on the outcomes of school. Kids do better if they believe that this could eventually lead to something good in adult life.
Then there is actual intellectual engagement. This is more about serious emotional and cognitive investment in learning 鈥� a mixture of interest and motivation, committed effort, effective learning time, relevance and instructional challenge.
High expectations for success and positive teacher-student relations combine to produce gains in intellectual engagement. Kids learn best from teachers they like or at least respect.
And let鈥檚 not forget a little constructive daydreaming.
听
Geoff Johnson is a retired superintendent of schools.
