Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity 5

9.3 What Does it Mean to Be an ‘Interested Learner’?
Interest encourages learners to ask questions and participate in learning activities. 
This provides students with positive energy, increasing their attention and involve-
ment in the pedagogical process. Interest in learning activities and active participa-
tion in the pedagogical scenarios offered by teachers allow for achieving higher 
academic results and the learner to change. We identified that the following precon-
ditions are significant for supporting the learner’s interest: concerning/questioning, 
actively participating, investigating, making choices and working independently.
The characteristics of strongly motivated learners are associated with a concern-
ing and questioning learner
. The synthesis and interpretation of the observation 
data of the learners’ engagement provided a clearer understanding of the students’ 
abilities as purposeful and motivated learners. When learners ask questions, they 
become involved in meaningful learning. Learners who are asking questions will 
also have enhanced learning potential. During the study, the learners demonstrated 
their need to ask questions. In some cases, the learners’ questions revealed their 
desire to learn more deeply and learn more about the topic.
A remote Lithuanian language and literature lesson is taking place (COVID-19 epidemic 
situation). Kotryna presents a topic about the partisan movement in Lithuania. After the 
presentation, Liutauras asks, ‘I have a question—is there anything new that you have 
learned?’ Kotryna replies, ‘I have learned that so many people died—about twenty thou-
sand’. The teacher is joining the conversation, ‘Don’t you see the positive consequences of 
the partisan movement?’ Kotryna, ‘They prevented the Soviet army from advancing’. 
(Observation, 7 May 2020)
The teacher motivates the students with her questions, inviting them to get 
involved and discuss the topic. The students’ motivation and interest were enhanced 
by learning through participation in discussions, as well as by providing questions 
to the teacher and each other. The aim of the learners’ questions was to understand 
the given content, to detail the objectives of the task, to find out the content of the 
activity, to find out the expediency of the chosen strategy, to explain the features of 
the task and so forth.
When learning to work and achieve goals together, an actively participating 
learner becomes an important source of personal change. In this way, new individ-
ual and group experiences can constructed, personal knowledge created and indi-
vidual and social skills established through cooperation. When learners participate 
actively in classroom activities, they empower themselves in learning and interper-
sonal interactions. In the current study, active participation of the learners in the 
observed lessons not only revealed their engagement, but also motivated them to 
think critically.
E. Stasi
ūnaitienė and J. Navaitienė

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In the English lesson, the teacher shows a slide with containers for food. She instructs the 
students to talk to a friend about what containers they might be and what could be stored in 
them. Students fill in the forms provided, in which they need to enter the correct information 
about the type of container in English. They provide a few words and an example. The stu-
dents consult with each other and use the phone to search for the right words. They discuss 
in what kind of container soup can be stored. The students repeat the names of some of the