Listening to teachers-listening to students: substantive conversations about resistance, empowerment and engagement

Source: Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, Volume 13, Issue 4 August 2007, pages 327 - 347

This article examines contemporary research and debates about pedagogies of engagement that challenge the traditional assumptions and understandings of engagement. Three contesting epistemological constructions of student engagement are identified and examined through the contesting and resisting voices of teachers and students. The article's research suggests that an empowering and resistant pedagogy can (re)conceive student engagement so that it achieves the twin goals of social justice and academic achievement