Can educational engagement prevent Early School Leaving? Unpacking the school’s effect on educational success

There is growing evidence that school engagement, or more specifically disengagement, is a key indicator for predicting Early School Leaving. The aim of this article is to explore the impact of secondary schools in student (dis)engagement and subsequent opportunities to succeed in school. Drawing on data from a qualitative study in five secondary schools in Barcelona, the article discusses the role of school context in inhibiting or facilitating school engagement by exploring compositional effects, organisational and pedagogical practices, and teachers’ expectations. To do so a twofold perspective is adopted: firstly, we look at the main school features and their impact on students’ educational opportunities; and secondly, a systematic analysis of the dimensions of school engagement (behavioural, emotional and cognitive) is carried out. As a result, the article contributes to the identification of the most significant variables at school level that influence student engagement and their opportunities for school success.     

Personal responsibility and behavioral disengagement in innocent bystanders during classroom management events: The moderating effect of teacher aggressive tendencies

Recent studies have shown that student behavioral engagement is malleable. For example, these studies have reported that students who feel emotionally supported by their teachers experience higher levels of behavioral engagement. The authors contributed to this research by investigating behavioral disengagement among innocent bystanders during classroom management events. Participants included 528 Year 7 students from Melbourne, Australia, who completed 3 questionnaire measures. Results revealed that personal responsibility is inversely related to behavioral disengagement during classroom management events. This relationship is moderated by teacher aggressive tendencies, with higher levels of teacher aggression leading to higher levels of behavioral disengagement. However, the Johnson-Neyman technique analysis revealed that the moderating influence of teacher aggressive tendencies was only statistically significant equal to or below the 76th percentile of the distribution of the variable. Implications regarding the influence of the teacher–student relationship on behavioral disengagement are discussed.     

Depression and School Engagement among Norwegian Upper Secondary Vocational School Students

There seems to be limited work addressing how depression is linked to elements of student functioning in the school setting other than academic achievement. This study investigated possible correlates of depressive symptoms with school engagement and disengagement. We examined four specific school variables (school motivation, intentions to quit, absence, and truancy) in a sample of 791 adolescents between 15 and 18 years of age in a Norwegian upper secondary vocational school. The results indicated that symptoms of depression could be a risk factor for school disengagement, and particularly for intentions to quit school. However, as only moderate associations were found, it appears that many depressed students manage to keep up their school engagement. This applied to both genders. However, the findings underline the importance of developing effective methods to identify and help depressed students who do have difficulty keeping up school engagement. Implications for practice are suggested.     

Student school elections and political engagement: A cradle of democracy?

Studies have found that prior involvement in student politics while in school seems to be a good predictor of adult political engagement. While most studies of adults have obtained retrospective data on participation in school elections, there have been few studies of students about this activity. We contribute to this latter relatively unexplored area by reporting the results from a national survey of Australian secondary school students about the relationship between participation in school elections and future intended political engagement activities. We found that voting in school elections is positively related to feeling prepared to vote as an adult, to being committed to vote when 18, to political knowledge, and to engagement in forms of peaceful activism. Running for student government office is related to political knowledge and participation in peaceful activism. These results reinforce the findings of adult retrospective studies, and show that participation in school elections serves as a beneficial experience in the preparation of students for life as an active adult citizen. The implications of these findings for the structure and conduct of student elections in schools are discussed.     

Understanding student behavioral engagement: Importance of student interaction with peers and teachers

Recent theoretical conceptualizations of student engagement have raised questions about how to measure student engagement and how engagement varies not only across schools, but also within school and within classrooms. The authors build on existing research on student behavioral engagement and extend this research to emphasize a continuum of disengagement, active engagement, and passive engagement. They review common approaches to measuring engagement and highlight areas where new theoretical conceptualizations of engagement require new approaches to measurement. The authors analyze how student behavioral engagement changed depending on the context and demonstrate the need of a finer scale of engagement. They find there was not a uniform association of higher behavioral engagement and student interaction with peers, but it was the interaction with other students and the teacher that was predictive of increased engagement. Their work suggests that disaggregating behavioral engagement into disengagement, active engagement, and passive engagement has important research and conceptual implications.     

The meaning of student engagement and disengagement in the classroom context: lessons from organisational behaviour

Despite the popularity of student engagement and, by association, student disengagement, the academic literature is unclear about the meaning of these terms. This review extends existing conceptual studies of student engagement by offering clear definitions and conceptualisations of both student engagement and disengagement in the classroom context. To develop these conceptualisations, the present review draws upon organisational behaviour theory on work engagement and disengagement because the literature in this discipline is notably more refined than in educational research. Using an organisational behaviour backdrop, student engagement and disengagement are defined by the degree of students’ activation and pleasure. In order to operationalise student engagement, measures that are aligned with the proposed conceptualisation are recommended. Recommendations are also suggested for the development of a measure of student disengagement. The proposed measurement of student engagement and disengagement should provide a unified direction for future empirical research on these topics.     

From high peaks to deep valleys: Using a situation- and person-oriented approach to assess within- and between-student variation in momentary engagement and disengagement

The present study investigated the qualitatively different moments of engagement and disengagement experienced by students at upper-secondary school in academic situations. Further, we examined between-student differences in the occurrence of these moments and their associations with both momentary task performance and overall academic achievement. By means of multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) we examined 1392 momentary experiences of 130 students, collected via experience sampling method (ESM). We identified six types of (dis)engagement moments varying within students from moment to moment: high engagement, moderate engagement, indifferent engagement, anxious engagement, anxious disengagement and bored disengagement. In addition, we identified four student profiles: highly engaged, moderately engaged, indifferently engaged and anxious. Whereas the engagement moments were related to momentary task performance, there were no differences between the student profiles in academic achievement. These results shed light on the nuanced nature of engagement and disengagement, and how they vary across individuals and situations.     

Engaging students emotionally: the role of emotional intelligence in predicting cognitive and affective engagement in higher education

Student engagement is a key predictor of academic performance, persistence and retention in higher education. While many studies have identified how aspects of the college environment influence engagement, fewer have specifically focused on emotional intelligence (EI). In this study, we sought to explore whether EI could predict cognitive and/or affective engagement in a sample of undergraduate psychology students in Ireland. Ninety-one students completed two forms of the student engagement instrument, rating current engagement and retrospective secondary school engagement, along with the trait EI (TEI) questionnaire. After controlling for academic ability, gender and school engagement, multiple regression analyses found TEI to be a positive predictor of both cognitive and affective engagement. Previous academic performance acted as an additional predictor of cognitive engagement, while retrospective affective school engagement predicted current affective engagement. These results suggest that interventions aimed at increasing EI may have positive implications for many aspects of student engagement, and hence performance at third level.     

Nagging,noobs and new tricks – students’ perceptions of school as a context for digital technology use

While digital technology is an integral feature of contemporary education, schools are often presumed to constrain and compromise students’ uses of technology. This paper investigates students’ experiences of school as a context for digital technology use. Drawing upon survey data from three Australian secondary schools (n = 1174), this paper considers the various ways in which students use digital devices and applications “in school” and “for school”. After highlighting trends and differences across a range of digital devices and practices, the paper explores the ways in which students perceive school as a limiting and/or enabling setting for technology use. The findings point to a number of ways that schools act to extend as well as curtail student engagement with technology. This paper concludes by considering the possible ways that schools might work to further support and/or enhance students’ technology experiences.     

Student agency at the crux: Mitigating disengagement in middle and high school

Considerable evidence indicates that students’ academic motivation and engagement generally decline as they move through middle school and on to high school. This study applied social cognitive theory to explore how self-efficacy and perceived control—two main factors of personal agency—may play a role in mitigating this decline in engagement and further contribute to academic performance. We used dual change score modeling to examine the dynamic structure of personal agency and disengagement during grades 8–10 for a large sample of students from the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. In that model, we analyzed how those variables predicted grade point average and attendance for students at the end of 10th grade. Students did not necessarily become more disengaged as a result of lower perceptions of control, rather they became more disengaged without the resilience factor of self-efficacy. The actual influence of disengagement on attendance and academic performance appears to be far weaker than the role of personal agency factors. Our results indicate that when student’s self-efficacy drops, disengagement in school increases during the years transitioning to high school. Increased disengagement weakens perceived control and change in both the control and self-efficacy dimensions of personal agency drive academic performance. Schools should prioritize the development of personal agency in each student during the middle school to high school transition years.     

Students embracing change towards more powerful learning environments in vocational education

Students’ educational engagement is both an important predictor of study success and a key preventive factor for dropout. Vocational tracks in secondary education show high dropout rates. There is strong evidence that the solution to educational disengagement lies in student‐centred, powerful learning environments (PLEs). This study investigates characteristics of PLEs from the perspective of students in vocational secondary education. Students’ perspectives on a learning environment are crucial for their satisfaction and learning engagement. Therefore, we investigated whether the perceived learning environment meets the requirements of PLEs, and to what extent it meets students’ preferences. Additionally, it was investigated whether students who perceive their learning environment as more powerful, are also more engaged for school. Survey data of 532 students showed that student perceptions of their current learning environment were largely discrepant from the characteristics of PLEs. Students strongly asked for more challenging learning pathways, in combination with adaptive learning support. Students who perceived the characteristics of PLEs as being present, reported higher satisfaction and stronger engagement than students who perceived their education to be a less powerful environment. There is a need to redesign curricula in vocational education in such a way that these more intensely implement characteristics of PLEs.     

Student engagement: rhetoric and reality

Recently, there has been much interest in higher education literature and policy on the concepts of student engagement and disengagement. While most academic writings recognise the significance of student engagement, they have tended to concentrate on it in relation to academic activities. Increasingly, universities are ‘cascading’ down the need to improve student engagement to schools and ultimately to individual academics. This article asserts that ideas about student engagement in the university context are often fragmented, contradictory and confused. Even the meaning of the term ‘student engagement’ is uncertain. Further, while government and universities urge attention to student engagement, many of their actions, it may be argued, have contributed to greater student disengagement. Relying on the available literature, we argue that the student experience as a whole is the key to engagement and, thus, efforts to re-engage students cannot be successful until a ‘whole-of-university’ approach is adopted.     

A phenomenographic investigation of teacher conceptions of student engagement in learning

Internationally, educational stakeholders are concerned with the high levels of student disengagement, evidenced by early school leaving, poor student behaviour, and low levels of academic achievement. The solution, student engagement, is a contested concept, theorised in a variety of different ways within academic literature. To further understand this concept, a phenomenographic study was conducted to map secondary school teachers’ conceptions of student engagement. Six qualitatively different ways of understanding student engagement were found. This research indicates that teachers do not hold similar understandings of what student engagement means. If the concept of engagement is to become educationally fruitful, the term must be more explicitly defined in educational research and government policy documents to promote shared understandings amongst stakeholder groups.     

The social contagion of work avoidance goals in school and its influence on student (dis)engagement

Work avoidance goals, which refer to wanting to do as little as possible in school, are detrimental to school success. Given its maladaptive nature, studies have investigated the antecedents of work avoidance, such as the role of personal characteristics and social-contextual factors. The influence of one’s classmates, however, remains under-explored. Drawing from social contagion research, we examined whether work avoidance goals spread among classmates. Questionnaires were administered to 1524 adolescent students nested within 50 classes. Two waves of data were collected one semester apart. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data. Results showed that a student’s work avoidance in Time 2 was predicted by his/her classmates’ work avoidance in Time 1. These results held even after controlling for one’s own Time 1 work avoidance. Moreover, work avoidance goals led to higher levels of disengagement and lower levels of engagement. The findings demonstrate that work avoidance goals are socially contagious and that they have negative consequences for students’ engagement. This study extends our theoretical understanding of work avoidance by highlighting the vital role played by one’s classmates in shaping students’ avoidance of schoolwork and the deleterious consequences that come with it.

     

Cultural perspectives on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian students' school motivation and engagement

The purpose of the paper was to investigate (a) similarities and differences in cultural perspectives, self-concept, and school motivation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australian students; and (b) the relative influences of self-concept, motivation, and cultural perspectives on academic engagement. Data were collected from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in Years 3 to 6 from 52 primary schools in metropolitan Sydney (N = 1745). Students completed a questionnaire asking about three cultural perspective factors (Aboriginal perspective, cultural diversity, and cultural identity), school self-concept, two motivation factors (a mastery approach goal and a performance approach goal), and a behavioral outcome (academic engagement). Results indicated that Aboriginal students were higher in all three cultural perspectives, but did not differ much from non-Aboriginal students in school self-concept, motivation, and academic engagement. For both groups cultural diversity, cultural identity, school self-concept, and a mastery approach goal orientation were positive predictors of academic engagement. A performance approach goal orientation was not a significant predictor of engagement but higher SES and being female were positive predictors. The findings suggest that teachers should understand the importance of promoting a positive sense of culture in the classroom to better engage students.     

Re‐asserting the place of context in explaining student (under‐)achievement

One popular view of student achievement is that the quality of teaching students receive plays an important part in whether or not they do well at school. In this article we draw attention to ‘context’ as a complementary explanation, particularly regarding achievement differences between students from different socio‐economic backgrounds. In making these observations, we utilise data from one Australian secondary school located in an economically depressed rural community. Drawing on the insights of Bourdieu, our focus is on the broader social and economic influences that can adversely position students and schools, as well as work to inform the institutional stance that schools take in relation to their students.     

Staying on track: behavioral engagement of at-risk and non-at-risk students in post-secondary vocational education

Behavioral disengagement from school is a proximal predictor of dropout. Therefore, the enhancement of behavioral engagement is a useful point of entry for dropout prevention. In this study, we examine the behavioral engagement of at-risk and non-at-risk students in Dutch senior vocational education (SVE), a sector confronted with high dropout rates. Using multilevel regression analyses, we assess the role of students’ background characteristics and perceived fit with the school environment in their behavioral engagement. Findings indicate that students in highly urbanized areas are significantly less engaged in school. The perceived proportion of autonomous work is most prominently correlated to students’ behavioral engagement. Whereas in general SVE students are more engaged if their program requires little autonomous work from students, engineering students appear to favor autonomous work forms.     

Engagement,conduct of life and dropouts in the Danish vocational education and training (VET) system

This study provides support for the idea that school engagement is a central concept when trying to understand the dropout process. One of the strengths of this concept is that it involves understanding dropping out as a process, rather than as an event. However, the concept of school engagement also presents a number of problems. It tends to be functionalistic in nature: Processes of students’ school engagement and disengagement are partly the consequences of institutional initiatives – for example, how teachers act or how the school environment is organised. Furthermore, mainstream dropout researchers formulate the concept of engagement both simplistically and mechanistically by seeing engagement as something that the students possess to varying degrees. Inspired by critical psychology, this study includes a different concept of student engagement: We must take the students’ life conduct as the point of departure when approaching their school engagement and decision to drop out. The theoretical claims in the paper are substantiated by empirical results from 160 interviews with vocational educational and training (VET) students in the Danish VET system, and this paper will show how school engagement is closely related to the events in the other contextual settings of students’ lives.     

Inclusionary and Exclusionary Secondary Schools: The Effect of School Culture on Student Outcomes

This study examines the impact of secondary school culture on the dual student outcomes of academic achievement and engagement with the institution attended. Elements of school culture were identified, specifically the roles played by administrators, the professional teaching staff, and the adolescent peer group. A mixed-method research design was employed with the primary research instrument taking the form of a survey questionnaire that was distributed to 268 Grade 11 students attending two composite secondary schools in a mid-sized Canadian city. The results demonstrated that institutional culture had a limited impact on student academic achievement but a significant influence on students' perceptions of engagement with their schools.