Engaging the Disengaged:  How Schools can Help Struggling Students Succeed by Lois Brown Easton, 2008, Corwin Press

This book is a very easy read and is presented in a workbooks style format to use with staff.  In fact it would be a good book to read and work through as a staff.  Many of the titles of the chapters ring loudly from my teaching practice.

“What Do You Mean, Build Relationships?  My Job is to Teach History.”  Relationships Are as Important as Content.  This theme has recurred itself in my teaching practice and was reinforced during our master’s class as well.  When Luke Friesen presented to our masters class he discussed the importance of the teacher/student relationship.  It is often easy to make relationships with kids one on one, especially at-risk kids but the most important relationship students must have is with their teacher.  Without relationships there is no trust nor is their empathy or compassion.

Luke also spoke extensively about the importance of relationships with at risk students.  Students need to feel like they belong in order to succeed.  I also agree with this and find that all students need to for bonds in order to make the most of their years in school. It is far easier to make bonds with successful students as they usually have those relationships somewhere in their lives.  Students who do not have supports are usually more difficult to bond with as they have issues with trust.  These are the students who we should reach out to more often.  We will not always be successful, but we need to make more of an effort to form bonds with our marginalized students.

The sense of community came forth with a group of students I was working this year.  I found late in the school year that many of them didn’t know their classmates, even though they have been working with them for several months.  I only see these students for 52 minutes of the day, but they work together for at least 60% of the day.  I felt that I had a good rapport with the class, but was shocked to find they did not have a rapport with each other.  I have learned that I need to spend more time with my students building a sense of community which then will create a general feeling of support.

According to Easton (and I agree), trust is built slowly through repeated honest interactions.  “Students don’t come in parts.  They are whole people and many faceted.”   (p. 24).   I also really connect with the statement,  “How can we pay attention to just their learning when learning is a function of all of them.” 

Eston gives several ways to focus on relationships and promotes smallness.  Although the reasoning makes sense that is not an option for my teaching practice.  I also believe that our large school has many good attributes because of its size.  I think there are many ways that we can work to make our large school small.

“Learning communities combine individual responsibility with communal sharing”,

The chapter, “What’s Community Got to Do With Learning?” continues with the relationship aspect of education to create learning communities.  Eston looks for real learning communities.  “A real community is brought to life intentionally.  It is carefully nurtured and changes.  It matures.” (p. 41)
 Easton also discusses in the chapter the importance of working towards the greater good, helping adolescents to see beyond themselves.  I believe this will come more easily with service learning which students are wanting to participate in as well.  They see purpose in the greater good.