Student engagement is a determinant for students' academic success, readiness for higher education, and social agency. The purpose of this qualitative, case study was to explore ninth grade students' perceptions of the contextual and psychological factors that influence the development of student engagement profiles. The ecological systems theory was used as the framework for the study. Through purposive sampling, 15 participants were selected, and 5 groups of 3 were formed based on participants' engagement profiles as identified by cooperating teachers' categorization and the results of the Student Engagement Instrument. Using semi structured interviews, data were gathered for the 4 research questions. Iterative content analysis of interview data identified 7 emergent themes that underscored the relative importance of parental support, teacher's mood and behavior, peer relationship, and a sense of justice and safety in the classroom as factors that promote multidimensional engagement patterns. These findings may influence students, parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, community members, and organizations to create spaces, and develop practices and policies that would provide environments and relationships that enhance students' emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement with school and schoolwork, especially for students who might be on the verge of disengaging from school.

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Although student enrolment in South African universities has significantly increased, the retention and graduation rates remain low. One reason for the low student success is the lack of engagement in their studies. It is therefore very important for universities to determine the various predictors of student engagement. The aim of this study is to establish whether proactive behaviour towards strengths use, proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement and fit with study course have an impact on engagement. Universities need to focus on creating an environment in which students can actively use their strengths and develop their weaknesses for improved study fit and enhanced levels of engagement. The general objective of this research study was to test a structural model of proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU), proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI), fit with study course and engagement amongst first-year students, and to test the mediating effect of study course between PBSU/PBDI and engagement. This study was conducted in order to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the antecedents of engagement amongst first-year students in South African. The Mplus and SPSS programmes were utilised for the statistical analysis of the data. A cross-sectional research design was used with a sample of 692 first-year students of a higher education institution in South Africa. The hypothesised model was tested by performing structural equation modelling. The bootstrapping method was used to identify possible mediating effects of fit with study course. The results confirmed a significant positive relationship between PBDI and engagement but no direct significant relationship between PBSU and engagement (although the significant levels were close to 0.05). The results also indicated a significant positive relationship with PBDI and engagement. PBDI was also found to be positively related to engagement. Furthermore, fit with study course fully mediated the relationship between PBSU and engagement and partially mediated the relationship between PBDI and engagement. After conclusions for the study had been drawn recommendations for the institution, students, as well as for future research were made. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Although student enrolment in South African universities has significantly increased, the retention and graduation rates remain low. One reason for the low student success is the lack of engagement in their studies. It is therefore very important for universities to determine the various predictors of student engagement. The aim of this study is to establish whether proactive behaviour towards strengths use, proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement and fit with study course have an impact on engagement. Universities need to focus on creating an environment in which students can actively use their strengths and develop their weaknesses for improved study fit and enhanced levels of engagement. The general objective of this research study was to test a structural model of proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU), proactive behaviour towards deficit improvement (PBDI), fit with study course and engagement amongst first-year students, and to test the mediating effect of study course between PBSU/PBDI and engagement. This study was conducted in order to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the antecedents of engagement amongst first-year students in South African. The Mplus and SPSS programmes were utilised for the statistical analysis of the data. A cross-sectional research design was used with a sample of 692 first-year students of a higher education institution in South Africa. The hypothesised model was tested by performing structural equation modelling. The bootstrapping method was used to identify possible mediating effects of fit with study course. The results confirmed a significant positive relationship between PBDI and engagement but no direct significant relationship between PBSU and engagement (although the significant levels were close to 0.05). The results also indicated a significant positive relationship with PBDI and engagement. PBDI was also found to be positively related to engagement. Furthermore, fit with study course fully mediated the relationship between PBSU and engagement and partially mediated the relationship between PBDI and engagement. After conclusions for the study had been drawn recommendations for the institution, students, as well as for future research were made. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study investigates the role of transformational leadership in influencing students’ outcomes in public secondary schools using Kuwait as a case study. The standard of academic achievement in Kuwait’s public schools has been declining over the years, which calls for a different type of leadership to transform these schools. It is argued in this thesis that there is merit in bringing in private sector business models to the public education sector in order to transform the sector and improve the schools’ outcomes. Furthermore, not much research has been undertaken on the paths through which transformational leadership influences public school outcomes in developing countries such as Kuwait. Following a critical review of leadership literature, a theoretical model for leadership that is transformational was conceptualised and this formed the basis of hypotheses formation and data collection. The thesis is thus original in its attempt to understand the paths through which school heads’ transformational leadership influence student’s outcomes in public secondary schools in a developing country (Kuwait). The study adopted a positivist ontology and objective epistemology and obtained data from 495 school heads and staff from 86 public secondary schools in Kuwait via a structured questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation models (SEM) tested the direct and indirect effects of school heads’ transformational leadership in influencing students’ outcomes the student “achievement” and the student “engagement” via several mediating variables including “school culture”, “class room condition” and “academic emphasis”. The analysis identified idealized influence (attributes) and idealized influence (behaviour) as the underlying dimensions of transformational leadership that directly and indirectly influences both student engagement and student achievement as the final outcome. The findings also confirmed differences between males and females in their leadership styles and subsequent influence on students’ achievement, and student engagement with the latter appearing to be better school heads. Therefore, two structure equation models were built to investigate the characteristics of each gender leadership style on the outcome variables. The findings also revealed that males’ leadership style has significant effect on student achievement but not student on engagement, while female leader ship style has significant effect on both student achievement and student engagement stronger than the males’ effect counterpart. Generally however, transformational leadership style has significant effect on both student achievement and student engagement. The study objectives were met and the study contributes to understanding the role of transformational leadership and its influence on staff and students’ achievement, from a developing country in the GCC. Managerial recommendations and suggestions for policy makers are made. Study limitations are highlighted leading to suggestions for further study.

Student engagement in academic work is critical for learning and scholastic achievement. Fortunately, an abundance of empirical evidence and engagement theories recommend what educational contexts are most likely to engage students in learning. Yet the epidemic of adolescent disengagement in schools suggests there is a gap, even a chasm, between student engagement research and practice. This study addresses this critical void in the literature; to understand how education theory can inform practice to improve the quality of student engagement in learning. I approached my research question, “How do secondary social studies teachers promote and sustain student engagement in academic work?” through the lens of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Self-determination theory suggests that teachers’ support of students’ psychological needs for autonomy (e.g. by minimizing coercion, maximizing student voices and choices, providing meaningful rationales for learning), competence (e.g. by providing challenging work along with structures and feedback to promote self-efficacy), and relatedness (e.g. by developing warm and caring relationships in the classroom) facilitates and promotes student engagement. Using a multiple case study design, rich and varied data collection processes, and directed qualitative content analysis, I explored how social studies teachers may support (or thwart) their students’ needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. The students in this study confirmed their needs for autonomy, to engage in “real discussions” with their peers and make decisions about important problems. They shared that they engage in learning when activities are meaningful, real world and worth their effort. I found that social studies teachers support autonomy by developing students’ emotional, personal, social, conceptual and authentic connections to the content. In addition, I confirmed that warm and trusting classroom relationships, coupled with challenging, organized and structured learning experiences that promote student efficacy, support students’ needs for relatedness and competency in the classroom. Accordingly, engaging students in academic work necessitates that teachers meet all three of these basic needs. By exploring engagement through the experiences of teachers and students in real classroom settings, I provide social studies educators with a rich and user-friendly understanding of how student engagement can be developed and sustained.

Over the past twenty years, an increasing amount of research has been devoted to the study of student engagement within the field of educational psychology. This led to a growing body of research touting the benefits of engaged learning—from increased student achievement to more positive school experiences for learners. However, the literature is characterized by competing theoretical frameworks and multiple definitions of the construct of student engagement. Additionally, few works seek to capitalized on the expertise of classroom teachers to hone and develop what is known about engagement from the theoretical perspective. The current study used qualitative methodology to observe and interview master teachers, as defined by their designation as a National Board Certified Teachers, to learn how expert teachers define student engagement and how these conceptualizations match up to current theoretical frameworks. It also examined the sources for their professional knowledge of student engagement. The individual teachers defined student engagement through the presence of interest, engaged behaviors, social interaction, real world connections, strategic thinking, and positive student-teacher rapport. As a group, their answers support a four-dimensional construction of student engagement including affective, behavioral, cognitive and social engagement, which aligns well with one of the major theories of engagement within educational psychology. These teachers’ beliefs include an emphasis on real world connections to learning within cognitive engagement, and student-teacher rapport within social engagement that has yet to be explored deeply in the literature. Teachers identified multiple sources for this knowledge including experience, peer interactions, the NBCT process, and guidance from school leaders. While some noted formal professional education as a source, they saw classroom experience reflective and embedded professional development as more formative. This work shows these master teachers arrived independently at constructions for student engagement close to those proposed by the research community. It supports a meta-construct of student engagement that includes affective, behavioral, cognitive and social processes, and calls for greater theoretical advocacy within the study of engagement to help more teachers fully conceptualize student engagement without the need for trial-and-error learning and extensive classroom experience.

This study examines the relationships between students' perception of the supportiveness of the campus and students' level of satisfaction by analyzing and comparing National Survey of Student Engagement data related to the social and cultural experience of black and white undergraduate students who attend Virginia Commonwealth University, a large, urban, Southern, predominately white research oriented university located in Richmond, Virginia. Conclusively, the low levels of black undergraduate student engagement predicted by the literature were not found to be true of the Virginia Commonwealth University undergraduate sample reviewed. Black male students displayed the highest instances of high perceptions of a supportive campus environment, as well as the highest instances of high satisfaction scores. Few statistically significant differences were found between the scores of black and white students, regardless of the sex of the student.