The Role of Teacher Support and Social Support in Promoting Student Engagement

Abstract

Student engagement is an important indicator of students' participation, involvement, and investment in educational activities. The present study examined the relationships of teacher and social support to student engagement among school-age school children through the teachers' perspectives. A quantitative cross-sectional correlational research design was utilized. The study sample consisted of 150 students chosen from educational agencies in Sargodha, Pakistan. The data on teacher support, social support, and student engagement were elicited through teacher's reports. Teacher Support Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Student Engagement Instrument were administered in order to measure the study variables. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation, and regression analysis were conducted to analyze the data. Teacher support was positively and significantly correlated with student engagement, r = .210, whereas social support was positively and significantly correlated with student engagement, r = .290, p < .01. Teacher support was significantly and positively related to social support, r = .204, p < .01. Regression analysis performed in the thesis demonstrated that teacher support could account for approximately 5% of variance in student engagement. Therefore, the findings indicate that social support might be a particularly significant factor that impacts student engagement in the present sample, teacher support effect student engagement.