@TeacherToolkit
Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2007, and today, he is one of the ‘most followed educators’on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the ‘500 Most Influential People in Britain’ by The Sunday Times as a result of…
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Do you understand how student attention changes in the classroom?
“Student attention is stronger during student‑initiated activities than teacher‑initiated activities.” This may challenge traditional models of instruction.
I wish I’d had this research two decades ago, stood in my London classroom wondering why my quietest pupils often produced the most thoughtful designs—this study confirms what I long suspected: real engagement isn’t always visible, and students learn best when they are doing the thinking.
Why Attention Looks Different Than You Think
Grammer et al. (2021) used portable EEG in real classrooms to explore how different teaching contexts affect student attention.
What did the study find?
Using portable electroencephalography (EEG) in real‑world classroom settings, the researchers observed that neural indicators of attention were stronger during student‑initiated activities (like group work or independent tasks) versus teacher‑led tasks (lecture or video).
Interestingly, behavioural observations (looking, posture) did not reliably match neural data, suggesting invisible engagement is at play. Their findings challenge assumptions that lecturing is always effective and highlight the need to embed student autonomy and active tasks.
Why does this matter for teachers?
If attention is stronger when students drive their own activity, then many traditional classroom practices may be working against natural cognitive engagement.
Relying solely on behavioural cues risks misjudging who’s actually paying attention.
The EEG data shows that what looks like “distracted” behaviour may sometimes reflect internal cognitive engagement. This insight helps teachers rethink when to lead, when to step back, and how to redesign tasks so that student‑led work becomes the norm, not the exception.
Take a look at the brainwave activity image below. Red indicates low attention and green indicates high attention. In summary, students pay more attention when they’re doing the thinking, not just listening! Dare I say, the research suggests watching videos isn’t good for engagement.
Credit: Grammer et al. (2021)
What should teachers do?
- Prioritise student‑initiated work in lessons—design tasks that students can monitor or reflect.
- Embed autonomy (e.g. independent thinking, pair planning) during teacher-led instruction to increase engagement.
- Reinterpret “looks away” (or ‘thinking time’) moments—use these as potential thinking time, not always as distraction cues. Especially important for neurodiverse students…
CPD questions for teachers:
- Which parts of your lessons are student‑initiated versus teacher‑led?
- How often do you allow students choice in activity pacing?
- Do you challenge assumptions about “bad posture = low attention”?
- How might you scaffold transitions between teacher talk and student activity?
- What classroom routines can you adjust to support autonomous thinking?
- How can you collect feedback from students about their attention and engagement?
- What professional learning might help teachers understand neural engagement?
- How can this research inform differentiation and neurodiversity for varied attention profiles?
- Which sensors or monitoring (self or peer‑review) might help you understand hidden engagement in your class?
Teachers wanting to shift from instruction dominance to learner dominance can begin by increasing phases of student‑initiated work, even in small doses.
The research concludes
“Making eye contact, potentially [results] in inaccurate perceptions of student engagement on the part of the [teacher].
