The Mediated Relationship Between Secondary School Student Perceptions of Teaching Behaviour and Self-Reported Academic Engagement Across Six Countries

Abstract Limitations in the current knowledge base on the importance of perceived teaching behaviour and student engagement are visible. Past studies on this topic specifically take place in certain contexts (usually the Western context) using various instruments. The current study aims to extend our understanding of the link between perceived teaching behaviour and student engagement based on students’ perceptions using uniform measures across six contrasting national contexts. It also aims to explore the role of certain personal variables in the interplay between students’ perceived teaching behaviour and engagement. In total, 40,788 students in The Netherlands, Spain, Indonesia, South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey participated in the survey using the My Teacher Questionnaire (MTQ) and the Student Engagement scale. Item Response Theory (IRT) and Classical Test Theory (CTT) analyses were used to analyse the student data. Results show that, in general, perceived teaching behaviour is positively related, and mostly strongly, to student engagement across the six educational contexts. This means the higher the perceived teaching behaviour, the higher students reported their academic engagement, and vice versa. Slight differences in the magnitude of relationships between perceived teaching behaviour and engagement are evident. The strongest link was found in the Netherlands, followed by South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia, Turkey, and Spain. Student gender, age, and school subject hardly show effects on the interplay between perceived teaching behaviour and engagement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.