Active and Reflective Learning to Engage all Students

Abstract

This article describes how teachers effectively manage learning through active engagement of all students throughout each class period. A case study is presented which demonstrates how students learn through active and reflective engagement with ideas, the environment, and other learners (National Middle School Association, 2010). The case study demonstrates the complex task of facilitating integrated, thematic collaborative learning. The case is based on a middle level classroom, but the concepts can be naturalistically generalized by readers to elementary or secondary settings. The case study can be used with pre-service and in-service teachers in a variety of professional development contexts. It can be useful to help educators differentiate between classroom management and behavior management. This paper advances what is known about managing integrated, thematic learning through connecting the theoretical literature with an actual case where these principles are applied.