Last week, I spent time thinking about my biggest questions in my professional life — what’s working, what’s not working, and what I want to figure out. One of my burning questions was:

“How can I better support students who seem disengaged and unmotivated during class?”

After watching the short videos on Positivist, Constructivist, and Critical research ideologies, I can see that the way I approach this question could change a lot depending on the paradigm I use.

If I took a Positivist approach
I would treat “engagement” as something I can measure maybe looking at attendance, participation rates, assignment completion, and even grades. I might design a survey or collect data over a few weeks to see patterns. I’d look for which strategies (group work, incentives, choice of materials) statistically increase engagement. This approach might give me clear numbers and generalizable evidence that one strategy works “best.”

If I took a Constructivist approach…
I would focus on students’ personal experiences and making meaning I’d talk with students, hold small group interviews, and ask them what makes them tune in or tune out. I might also observe class interactions closely and write detailed notes to capture patterns. The goal wouldn’t be to find one “correct” answer but to understand how different students experience engagement differently and why.

If I took a Critical approach…
I’d look deeper at the structures shaping engagement. Are school policies, curriculum choices, or disciplinary practices making some students feel left out or unheard? Are there issues of bias, inequity, or cultural disconnects that affect motivation? This approach might push me to think about systemic changes like more culturally relevant curriculum or different ways of assessing student learning so that all students have a fair chance to engage.

Right now, I think I lean toward a constructivist-critical perspective. I value hearing students’ voices and understanding their lived experiences, but I also want to think about the bigger structural factors that might be causing disengagement. Still, I can see the value in positivist data to check whether any changes I make actually improve engagement over time.

I also see value in positivist approaches in certain settings (where measurement and causality are clear and useful), but I feel uneasy when that becomes the only lens.

Prompt: How can I better support students who seem disengaged and unmotivated during class?” under each paradigm