Wednesday, May 04, 2005
So, does attendance = engagement?
I discovered the blog of STU, a youth ministry/STUdent ministry in the US (well, that's my guess). Grant had discovered an interesting article in an online magazine that he found challenging.
It challenged me too...so here it is:
Attendance ≠ Engagement
I was reading in Youth Specialties new Magalog...which is kinda cool. It's got articles in the front, all the resources in the back.
Anyway - I'm reading this article and for the life of me I can't remember who wrote it but the first line slayed me. Don't mistake attendance with vulnerability or engagement. You can have a student who shows up every week and still no one knows them. You can have a student who makes it twice a month but is vulnerable and has lots of "off-line" contact with others and/or a mentor. That second student may just be more on the journey than the one who shows up every week.
More here
It challenged me too...so here it is:
Attendance ≠ Engagement
I was reading in Youth Specialties new Magalog...which is kinda cool. It's got articles in the front, all the resources in the back.
Anyway - I'm reading this article and for the life of me I can't remember who wrote it but the first line slayed me. Don't mistake attendance with vulnerability or engagement. You can have a student who shows up every week and still no one knows them. You can have a student who makes it twice a month but is vulnerable and has lots of "off-line" contact with others and/or a mentor. That second student may just be more on the journey than the one who shows up every week.
More here
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It's a really good point Paula, and one you've no doubt witnessed in your past. Just because someone is visible doesn't mean they are tracking along healthily. That's could be an easy but potentially bad assumption to make.
Thanks Bruce. I know it to be true, even in my own life. Often, you can think "well if I show up to enough "things" people will think I'm doing ok"
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