In many classrooms right now, silence has become palpable. It may look like disengagement, exhaustion, anxiety, resistance, uncertainty, or some combination of these. This past semester, in one of my courses, I would ask the class an open-ended question about the day’s materials and wait for someone, anyone, to raise their hand. But nothing. Silence. Two years ago, that kind of invitation would have drawn many students to raise their hands. Talking with colleagues across the country, I see that many of us are working harder to invite our students to speak, and many of us are wondering whether the old explanations for student disengagement still hold. Is this about attention? About AI? About loneliness? About the future students imagine, or cannot imagine, for themselves?
