Characterizing Workshops Promoting Motivated Engagement and Retention beyond the Sessions: Experiential Narratives from Education, Language and Social Science Instructors

This was a qualitative research study that explores the type of workshops that facilitate inspired participation and sustainable knowledge construction among Education, Language, and Social Sciences teachers by looking at the longer-term effects beyond the sessions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-five teaching professionals who have experienced more than six years for rich narratives regarding their experiences during the workshops. Purposive sampling was utilized to select the participants with specific expertise and insight directly relevant to the objectives of the study. Interactive, tailored, and engaging workshops form an active learning environment by explaining things through storytelling and being easy to implement practically, thus explaining why teaching is motivated in the long term with such forms of workshops. Sustained support and impact in the long term can be ensured due to the effect of follow-up sessions, reflective activities, and resource sharing on a continuous basis. The results of the research have practical implications for educators and workshop designers in that there is now a need to strive toward creating transformative learning experiences that empower teachers to be more engaged, motivated, and impactful in their teaching practices. The effectiveness of different follow-up strategies also needs to be researched, along with the implications that would arise from participating in such workshops on the learning outcomes of students.