Dynamics of Engagement and Disaffection in a Social Studies Classroom Context

Abstract

In this investigation, we replicated Skinner et al.'s study of the dynamics of engagement with a more diverse sample of Grades 6 and 7 students from a middle school with a large English learner (primarily Spanish-speaking) student population. We tested dimensions of the self-system model of motivational development in a specific academic domain (i.e., social studies). Some relationships found by Skinner and colleagues were supported, whereas others were not. Emotional engagement predicted changes in behavioral engagement and disaffection. The classroom context and students' self-perceptions predicted changes in engagement and disaffection. Students' self-perceptions also mediated the relation between teacher support and engagement and disaffection. None of these relations were moderated by language status. C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Engagement (i.e., active participation in activities) has been identified as a multifaceted and crucial factor in predicting and preventing school dropout (Christenson et al., 2008;Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004) that is positively associated with desired academic, emotional, and social learning outcomes (Klem & Connell, 2004). For English learner (EL) students, engagement in academics and school is of the utmost importance. ELs, especially adolescents, have consistently fallen behind their English native-speaking peers academically (e.g., 70% of eighth graders identified as ELs scored below the basic level in national reading assessments compared to 20% of non-ELs, Aud et al., 2013). As such, academic engagement has drawn increased interest from researchers and practitioners (Fredricks et al., 2011).Given declines in student engagement across the elementary, middle, and high school years (Marks, 2000; National Research Council, 2004), there is a particular need to understand the dynamics underlying changes in engagement. In particular, Skinner, Furrer, Marchand, and Kindermann (2008) examined the internal dynamics of engagement (i.e., how the components of engagement related to each other over time) as well as how the components of engagement are related to contextual and personal factors. Although this study has important implications for understanding the internal and external factors that contribute to changes in students' engagement, the sample was relatively homogeneous and the authors examined engagement across academic contexts. In the current investigation, we replicated and expanded on Skinner et al. (2008) by exploring the internal and external dynamics of engagement for EL students (i.e., primarily Spanish-speaking) and non-EL students in a content domain (i.e., social studies).

Intra‐individual dynamics of lesson‐specific engagement: Lagged and cross‐lagged effects from one lesson to the next

“…The high correlation between behavioural and cognitive engagement and emotional engagement prevented examination of the association between those two engagement dimensions. Barber, Buehl, and Beck (2017) found that high emotional engagement predicted high behavioural engagement, but not vice versa. It would be important to examine this topic in more depth with chronologically ordered data, as used in this study.…”

Reading Anxiety, Engagement, and Achievement: A Comparison of Emergent Bilinguals and English Monolinguals in the Elementary Grades

“…Even for EBs who are well on their path to developing English proficiency, reading in English at school may be anxiety‐inducing, as they may perceive themselves as weaker readers than their EM counterparts (whether they are or not), leading to lower self‐efficacy for reading in English, a key contributor to the low sense of control that contributes to anxiety development in the control–value theory (Pekrun, 2016). Although a few studies in the last decade have explored reading engagement and motivation in EBs (e.g., Taboada, Townsend, & Boynton, 2013; Taboada Barber et al, 2017; Taboada Barber, Klauda, & Stapleton, 2020), to date, no known studies have examined the extent to which EBs compare with other language groups in levels of anxiety specific to reading. In addition, no known studies have examined how reading anxiety relates to EBs’ reading engagement and achievement.…”

“…In EBs, the exploration of the various facets of reading engagement and their relations to reading achievement has been more limited but has taken several directions in the last decade. For example, studies have shown that teachers rate elementary‐grade EBs and EMs similarly in levels of reading engagement (Taboada Barber, Cartwright, et al, 2020; Taboada Barber, Klauda, & Stapleton, 2020) and that the dynamics and indicators of engagement are similar for EBs and their EM peers in the middle grades (e.g., Taboada Barber et al, 2017), with behavioral and cognitive engagement playing a strong role in predicting achievement in grade 6 students.…”

“…In sum, whereas several studies have focused on the cognitive and linguistic dimensions of EBs’ reading, with an eye toward identifying targets for intervention that may improve it, few have examined the role that socioemotional dimensions, which are also potentially malleable, may play (e.g., Taboada Barber, Buehl, & Beck, 2017; Taboada Barber, Klauda, & Stapleton, 2020). In particular, it is an open question as to how and to what extent anxiety about the processes and outcomes of reading may relate to EBs’ reading difficulties.…”