The role of engagement in inspiring teaching and learning

The aim of the paper is to integrate notions of the improvement of student learning through a focus on the concept of engagement, and adds to that broader discussion through a recent empirical study of the perceptions of students gathered through a case study in a UK university. It is proposed that student engagement lies on a continuum from disengaged to engaged, and also exists at a number of levels within which the same student may exhibit different degrees of engagement. We argue that if the built‐in alienating influences within higher education are to be countered, multi‐faceted engagement is required. Learners, we conclude, are more likely to engage if they in turn are supported by teaching staff who engage with: students, with the subject, and with the teaching process, and furthermore that the classroom teacher requires support in achieving this.