Parenting styles and teacher interaction on self-regulated learning and academic performance

ABSTRACT

The importance of parenting styles and teacher interaction on self-regulated learning (SRL) and academic performance is well documented. This study aimed to identify the correlation between parenting styles and interaction with teachers, with SRL in students and how these predict academic performance. The cross-sectional design research was conducted with 420 students selected using a random cluster sampling method. Data collection was carried out in classrooms through self-administered questionnaires. The study’s results show that the authoritative parenting style and teachers’ cooperative behaviour were positively correlated with SRL strategies. There was a negative correlation between the tolerant parenting style and teachers’ dominance behaviour with SRL strategies. Parenting styles and interaction with teachers accounted for 34.9% of the variance in SRL among adolescents. SRL was positively correlated with academic success. Considering Kosovo students’ low educational outcomes, these findings provide insights for a shift towards more parent-teacher interactive education.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-regulated learning
• teacher interaction
• parenting styles
• academic performance

Introduction

Self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to the process whereby learners personally activate and sustain cognitions, affects, and behaviours that are oriented towards the attainment of personal goals, which enable learners to create self-oriented feedback loops through which they can monitor their effectiveness and adapt their functioning (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011). Self-regulation refers to the degree to which students are responsible for their own learning by engaging in setting clear goals, choosing or establishing strategies for meeting commitments, monitoring, evaluating, and reflecting on their work (Zimmerman, 2008). Students engaged in self-regulatory processes achieve higher academic and professional performance in various social contexts (Clark, 2013; Clark & Zimmerman, 2014).

While substantial research has established the importance of parenting styles and teacher interaction on SRL and academic performance in various cultural contexts, it is essential to confirm these theories in Kosovo, particularly in the Albanian language.¹ Kosovo has a unique socio-cultural and educational setting, shaped by its historical, political and linguistic background. Recent history of conflict, international intervention, and political, economic and social transition to stat-building (Agir, 2019) provides a unique environment for the validation of theory and application in practice. Studying these dynamics within this specific context allows for the validation and potential adaptation of existing theories to ensure their applicability in diverse cultures. Furthermore, understanding the impact of parenting styles and teacher interactions in Kosovo can provide valuable insights into educational policies and practices that are culturally relevant and linguistically appropriate for the Albanian-speaking population. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining these relationships in a sample of students from Kosovo, thereby contributing to a broader body of cross-cultural research on parenting styles, SRL, and academic performance.

It is the first study that tries to validate the role of parents and teachers in SRL in Kosovo. There is no empirical evidence for the relationship between parenting styles and teacher-student interactions or for SRL and its connection with academic success in Kosovo Albanian culture, which went through conflict and deep societal transition. Furthermore, the study will try to validate instruments for the measurements of parenting styles, teacher interaction, and SRL in the Albanian language.

This study will contribute to understanding the educational challenges reflected by Kosovo students’ very low standing in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (OECD, 2019, 2023). It can offer valuable insights into the importance of parental and teacher involvement in supporting students’ autonomy in learning within the Kosovar context and thus contribute to increased academic performance.

Strategies that guide SRL are classified into different types, but the authors Garcia and Pintrich (1994), Pintrich (1999), Pintrich and De Groot (1990), and Pintrich et al. (1993) believe that SRL contains three general strategies: 1) cognitive learning strategies, 2) metacognitive strategies, and 3) management strategies. Cognitive strategies – include the processing or elaboration of materials where connections are made between new and already-known information (Mayer, 2008). Metacognitive strategies – are mainly guided by three important phases such as planning, monitoring and reflection, where, in fact, the student evaluates the learning process by returning to what happened during the lesson and why it happened, as well as planning for what needs to be done made in the future (Zimmerman, 2002). Management strategies – focus on the learning environment and are used to create optimal learning conditions (Pintrich, 1999).

Two important factors influencing SRL are parenting styles and interaction with teachers. According to Lotfi and Yarahmadi (2014), parenting styles include a general pattern of interactions of parents with children. Baumrind (1971) defined three parenting styles: authoritative style, authoritarian style, and permissive style. The authoritative parenting style represents the most successful parenting style; parents exhibit loving and caring behaviour towards their children; they listen to the children’s opinions and give explanations for their decisions, but they make clear that they are the ones who make and put the rules in force. Authoritarian parents are characterized as overly demanding, exercise strong control over their children’s behaviour, and force them to comply with their demands with threats and punishments. Permissive parents are loving, very supportive and emotionally sensitive. They place very few restrictions on children’s behaviours; while they provide acceptance and encouragement for their children, they provide very little structure and prediction for the future. Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for people to form many learning and behaviour patterns, and they have lasting effects into adulthood (Li, 2022).

In addition to parents, teachers also play an important role in SRL. Interaction is defined as the real-time exchange of behaviours between two or more participants, e.g. teacher-student (Markey et al., 2010). There are two dimensions of behaviour that build the teacher-student interaction: the dominance dimension shows the way the teacher directs and controls the communication with the students, while the proximity dimension shows the degree of cooperation between the teacher and the student. Both dimensions include eight types of teacher behaviours. Behaviours such as uncertain, dissatisfied, admonishing and strict are the dimensions of dominance, while the other four types of behaviour, such as helpful/friendly, leadership, understanding and student freedom to be responsible for themselves, constitute the dimension of proximity (Wubbels & Brekelmans, 2005). Self-regulated learning (SRL) has become an important educational goal. Teachers holding developmental educational beliefs and acknowledging the value of SRL report more SRL practices, in opposite the perceived pressure of time and work, diversity between pupils, and limited teacher willingness to change one’s practice are the most important barriers (Vandeveldea et al., 2012).

In general, the roles of parents and teachers are important beyond SRL in students also, many factors were seen to influence SRL and academic performance, such as students’ personality traits (Babakhani, 2014), interaction with peers (Mohan & Verma, 2020), stress and learning environment (Mushtaq & Khan, 2012), etc., but our focus is to study precisely the relationship between teacher-student interaction and parenting styles with SRL in students. At this age, adolescents have an immediate need for parents and teachers to avoid any possible negative impact on their academic performance (Hashmi & Fayaaz, 2022). The area of adolescents’ activity is mainly between school and home. Family relationships and teacher-student relationships constitute adolescents’ interpersonal networks. Negative interpersonal networks will reduce life satisfaction and subjective well-being and eventually will reflect the lack of learning strategies (Bücker et al., 2018). A positive relationship between parents and teachers provides social support that enhances students’ self-regulating ability (Balaguer et al., 2021). It is also the responsibility of parents and teachers to ensure that academic goals are achieved (S. A. Shah et al., 2019).

Parenting styles and self-regulated learning (SRL)

Collaboration with parents is an important step in promoting students’ SRL behaviour at the elementary school level. This was confirmed in Malaysia by Manukaram and Yen Abdullah (2021) by examining the influence of family and psychological factors on the SRL behaviour of elementary school students. For the collection of data in this study, a self-report questionnaire was used, and the participants were 639 students. The results of the study show that factors with significant influences were parents’ participation, parental support and authoritative parenting style. A study conducted by Fuentes et al. (2019) aimed to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and SRL in a sample of 437 Spanish students over the age of 12. The results are consistent with previous research, thus increasing the available evidence about the influence of parenting styles in this setting; children from authoritative and indulgent families obtained significantly higher scores on SRL compared to children with authoritarian and neglectful parents. The study carried out by Suárez and Suárez (2019) offers us similar results on the role of parenting styles in SRL, with 221 Spanish students aged 12–17 years, researched learning strategies, goal orientations and academic performance of students, considering the influence of parenting styles and gender differences. The results of the study showed that students from authoritative and indulgent families showed better results than students from families with neglectful and authoritarian styles on learning strategies, time management strategies, and effort, at the same time showing significantly lower levels of avoidance goals of academic tasks.

Another study, conducted by Žerak et al. (2023), aimed to analyse the relationships between parenting styles, teaching styles and SRL was conducted with a sample of 328 students aged 13 and 14 in Slovenia. Based on students’ self-reports of self-regulatory learning, parenting styles, and teaching styles, the particular focus was on identifying three subtypes of parenting styles (discipline-oriented parenting, democratic parenting, and responsible parenting) as well as three subtypes of teaching styles (autonomy-supportive teaching, differentiated teaching and directive teaching). Results show that students who perceive autonomy-supportive teaching and responsive parenting styles exhibit higher levels of SRL.

The next study, by Alnafea and Curtis (2017) conducted in Saudi Arabia, found that the authoritative parenting style had a positive correlation with the three learning strategies self-regulatory: cognitive, metacognitive strategies and time management, while the tolerant style of parenting turned out to had a negative correlation with metacognitive strategies self-regulation, as well as authoritarian style parenting was negatively related to time management as a self-regulatory learning strategy. Furthermore, similar results were found among Arab teenagers in Israel, the results underpin parents’ importance in the adolescents and support previous evidence for the significance of students’ SRL in all cultural contexts (Nabil, 2021).

Similar results regarding the relationship between parenting styles and self-regulatory learning were also found among 823 students aged 9–12 from Mexico. This study, conducted by Grijalva-Quiñonez et al. (2020), found that parental autonomy support had a direct positive relation with SRL and academic achievement. On the other hand, parental control was directly and indirectly negatively related to academic self-efficacy, SRL, and academic achievement. This parental approach effect remains important because it allows children to acquire knowledge and skills in different learning contexts. Grolnick’s study (Grolnick, 2009) revealed similar findings that the role of parents is significant in supporting children’s autonomy, thus facilitating the learning process at school. The conclusions from this researcher reflected that providing clear and consistent instructions by parents accompanies the child with high achievement of success and avoidance of failure in school. Significant effects of parenting styles on SRL strategies and academic performance were also found in the study conducted by Aunola et al. (2000) with Swedish teenagers aged 14 and a group of parents. The results of this study showed that low levels of self-regulatory strategies characterized adolescents with authoritarian parents in terms of academic achievement. Also, adolescents with neglectful parents showed passivity and a lack of self-improving attributes in tasks. On the other hand, adolescents with permissive and authoritative parents had the best results in SRL.

Similar results on parents’ involvement in encouraging SRL in students can also be found in the study conducted by Gutiérrez de Blume et al. (2021), with 196 students 6 to 17 years of age in Colombia. The study investigated whether parenting styles predict SRL in students. The results showed that parenting styles predict metacognition in three areas of learning (reading and comprehension, mathematics and similarities), although in different ways. Authoritarian and negligent parents were not factors with a positive impact on students’ metacognition, while tolerant and authoritative parents were considered important in students’ metacognition. This study is in accordance with the results of Rani and Duhan (2020), according to which children raised in a cooperative and supportive environment performed better in their academic process than children raised in a harsh, strict, punishing, and negligent environment.

Teacher-student interaction and self-regulated learning (SRL)

A study with 7th and 9th graders in Portugal revealed that the dimension of teacher-student proximity, such as understanding, leadership, and friendliness, was positively correlated with SRL, while the behaviours that made up the dominance dimension, such as uncertain, dissatisfied, admonishing and strict with students, had a negative correlation with SRL (Azevedo et al., 2012).

Trias et al. (2021) conducted a quasi-experimental study that investigated the effect of teaching different self-regulation strategies on students’ learning in terms of solving mathematical problems in six schools in Montevideo, Uruguay. The experimental group was taught self-regulatory learning strategies (cognitive, metacognitive, and volitional strategies), while in the control group, there was no intervention. The results showed that the group that had intervention from teachers showed better results. Zee and Bree (2017), assert that the quality of teacher-student relationships in school is very important for SRL and school achievement. Their findings indicated that teachers who were perceived as cooperative and close encouraged the students to develop SRL and exercise control over their own learning, and these students were seen to have higher academic success in school. While teachers who were dominant in their relationship with students, had a negative role in SRL in students, and these students showed low academic performance. Another study by Öz and Şen (2021) examined the effects of teaching methods in SRL on students, lifelong learning, and critical thinking tendencies. The study was realized with two experimental and two control groups, a total of 84 students. For the students of the experimental group, lesson plans enriched with SRL activities were implemented for eight weeks, while in the control group, learning was developed according to the methods defined by the curriculum. Researchers found a significant difference in favour of the experimental group in the students’ SRL skills, lifelong learning and critical thinking tendencies.

Similarly, Ramadhani (2019), has given special importance to the role of effective teacher-student communication, in terms of SRL among students, according to which the rapid development of information technology nowadays will affect learning methods, where the teacher’s role will not be simply as a sole provider of information to students, but as a facilitator to awaken self-regulation skills in learning. Ruig et al. (2023) study aimed to provide a narrative review of the relations between the quality of teacher-student interactions and SRL. The study shows that both well-organized and emotionally supportive classroom climates, in addition to high-quality instructional support, are associated with students’ metacognition. The findings show that associations between classroom-level interactions and the components of SRL that tap students’ behaviours and motivation are mixed (Ruig et al., 2023). Findings of another study support the claim that autonomy and supportive teaching are related to students’ ability to regulate their own learning (Reeve & Cheon, 2021). The results are consistent with previous studies showing that an autonomy-supportive teaching style is positively associated with students’ SRL (Brandisauskiene et al., 2023).

Alvi and Gillies (2020) also support the opinion that teachers’ efforts to support students’ SRL are influenced by the exosystem (e.g. school, curriculum) and macrosystem (e.g. home, community) in a reciprocal fashion. The researchers carried out their research with 6 mathematics teachers of sixth-grade students from three primary schools in Australia. The results of the study showed that teachers are cognizant of the major SRL components and, therefore, have positive dispositions to support students’ SRL. While positive teacher behaviour promoted student engagement, the impact of negative teacher behaviours showed the opposite. A study conducted by Kuril et al. (2021) in India with 12 years old, from 347 schools investigated the relationship between negative teacher behaviours and student engagement in school; they found that the relationship between teachers’ behaviour and student engagement is mediated by student cognitive and metacognitive self-regulating strategies. The study aimed to address the low achievement of Indonesian adolescents in international assessments focusing on improving mathematics learning quality and investigated students’ learning strategies and SRL in solving maths problems (Ansari et al., 2021), revealed that a good level of SRL among students is based on teachers selecting suitable learning approaches and monitoring students’ abilities to reduce errors.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) and academic performance

Inggriyani and Hamdani (2018) analysed the relationship between SRL and the academic success of 134 students (49 girls and 52 boys) in primary, and results showed that SRL contributed 34% to students’ academic achievement. These researchers recommend that education enable students to enhance SRL to enhance their academic achievement. According to Ha et al. (2023), SRL is one of the most important competencies to become a lifelong learner. They studied the relationships between SRL strategies use and academic achievement among 6th-grade students in South Korea. The study found that students’ metacognition and effort regulation positively predicted their maths achievement. Results that support the link between SRL and academic performance were also found in Australia (Harding et al., 2019), Bosnia and Hercegovina (Ejubović & Puška, 2019), and Turkey (Çaliskan & Sunbul, 2011).

The findings so far that SRL among adolescents predicts success in school are also confirmed by Yahaya et al. (2020); this study has explored the effects of SRL, parental involvement, and homework on academic achievement. The results proved that academic achievement was associated with SRL, parental involvement, and homework. A further study carried out by El-Adl and Alkharusi (2020) investigated the relationship between SRL strategies and students’ learning motivation and academic achievement in mathematics among 13- and 14-year-old students in Oman. Results revealed statistically positive relationships of SRL with academic achievement and scores in mathematics.

The objectives of this study were

1. To investigate the relationship between parenting styles and SRL.

2. To investigate the relationship between teacher-student interaction and SRL among students.

3. To understand if SRL predicts academic performance in students.

To test the relationship of these variables in Kosovo and in the Albanian language for the first time, thus providing further external validity and applicability of the theory in a cross-cultural setting.

Study hypotheses

1. Authoritative parenting style will have a positive correlation with SRL in students.

2. Authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting styles will have a negative correlation with SRL in students.

3. Teacher cooperative behaviour in the classroom will have a positive correlation with SRL among students.

4. Teacher dominance behaviour in the classroom will have a negative correlation with SRL among students.

5. SRL will have a positive correlation with student academic performance.

Method

Participants

A total of 420 students from 7 and 8 grades participated in the survey. Students were selected through random cluster sampling from schools in Drenas municipality, Kosovo, whereby 22 classrooms were randomly selected with a total number of 481 students, out of which 41 students did not participate in the survey and 20 left too many blank questions. Students were between the ages of 11 and 14, with mean ages of 12.64 and SD = 0.65. Regarding gender, 203 or 48.3% were girls, while 217 or 51.7% were boys. The number of students participating in the research resided in the villages, 63.6%, respectively, while the rest of the students were from the city, 36.4%.

Measures

The battery of questionnaires for this study consisted of four sections: questions on demographic variables and academic performance, a questionnaire on parenting styles, a questionnaire on teacher-student interaction, and a questionnaire on SRL.

Demographic data and academic performance

This part of the questionnaire contained 20 questions related to gender, age, place of residence, questions on the family of the students participating in the research, respectively the level of education of the parents, the number of children in the family, the socio-economic status, profession and employment status of the parents, and question on academic performance of students.

Parenting styles

The Parental Authority Questionnaire developed by Buri (1991) was used to measure parenting styles. It contains a total of 30 questions, divided into three subsections, with ten questions for each parenting style: authoritative, authoritarian, and tolerant. Questions are on a Likert scale with 1- strongly disagree, 2- disagree, 3- neither agree nor agree, 4- agree, and 5-strongly agree on statements related to parenting styles, and the questionnaire was translated by the professors of the Psychology Department in 2013. Reliability analysis for the questionnaire showed the following internal consistency of the subscales: authoritative α = 0.60, authoritarian α = 0.31, and tolerant α = 0.91

Teacher-student interaction

Student Questionnaire of Teacher Interaction – QTI was originally developed by Wubbels and Levy (1993) and later modified and shortened by Fisher et al. (1995). A total of 48 questions were used to collect data on teacher interaction. The questionnaire measures perceptions and opinions of students on the mathematics teacher’s behaviour and environment in the school in two dimensions that represent opposite behaviours: the dominance dimension portrays who is controlling or directing the communication process and how often, while the cooperation dimension shows the degree of cooperation or proximity in the communication process between the teacher and the student. To evaluate these dimensions, students evaluate their experiences with 0 -never, 1 - rarely, 2 - sometimes, 3 - most of the time and 4 - always. The questionnaire was translated by the authors into Albanian language, back translated to English and was reviewed for inconsistencies; later, a pilot study was conducted to validate the questionnaire. Reliability analysis for the questionnaire showed the following internal consistency of the subscales dominant α = 0.41 and cooperative α = 0.87. Given the many studies have shown that students demonstrate marked difficulties in learning mathematical content (Castro, 2007; Leandro, 2006; Ramalho, 2004; Soares, 2007) this discipline, with a high failure rate and simultaneously of great importance in the school curriculum, was selected to study interaction with teachers. According to Bruce (2007), the difficulty of mathematics as a subject can make teachers easily angry when students can’t understand the task; this creates students’ fear of asking questions and interacting with the teacher. According to the PISA (OECD, 2019, 2023), student achievement in mathematics and science in Kosovo was quite low; this was another reason for the selection of maths teachers.

Self-regulated learning (SRL)

The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) by Pintrich and De Groot (1990) measures the degree of motivation and learning strategies, but since the scales of the questionnaire could also be used separately (that is, SRL separated from motivation), for this study, a total of 22 questions were used that measured cognitive strategies of SRL and metacognitive strategies along with effort management strategies. To answer these questions, students can select the option that best describes them, ranging from 1- never true of me, 2- rarely true of me, 3- sometimes true of me, 4- generally true for me, and 5-always true for me. Reliability analysis for the questionnaire showed internal consistency of α = 0.78.

Study design

This quantitative study, which used the questionnaire as a measuring instrument, is of the predictive correlation type because the goal was to analyse the relationship between the variables. The design of this study is cross-sectional because the data were collected at a single point in time.

Procedure and ethical considerations

The Department of Psychology’s ethical committee approved this study. After the approval of the study proposal by the Philosophical Faculty Council for the realization of the research in the schools, permission from the Municipal Directorate of Education in Drenas was obtained. After permission for the study was received, in cooperation with school principals, written parental consent was requested to conduct the study in selected classes. Researchers administered the questionnaires. Initially, students were given oral instructions about questionnaires, and they were informed about anonymity and confidentiality and that answers would be analysed in a group only for research purposes. They were also informed that their participation was voluntary and that they could withdraw from the research at any time. The questionnaires were distributed to the students in their classrooms, and the administration process took 45 minutes.

Statistical analysis

The results of the study were analysed with the SPSS 23 program. Following data clearance and descriptive analysis, correlation analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis of the study. Depending on Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk on the normality tests, the Pearson correlation was used for variables with normal distribution and the Spearman Correlation was used for variables that did not have a normal distribution. Linear Regression was used for further analysis of predictor variables when all variables were entered at the same time as a predictor of the dependent variables.

Results

According to mean scores reported by students, the authoritative parenting style was the most common parenting style, followed by tolerant and authoritarian parenting styles style (see Table 1). Regarding teacher-student interaction, cooperative behaviours were reported more frequently, while dominant behaviours among teachers were reported less. Among cooperative behaviours, leadership and understanding behaviours were the most frequently reported behaviours, followed by friendly/helpful behaviour, and student freedom was the least reported. The dominant behaviours among teachers were less reported, whereby strict and admonishing behaviours were most frequent, followed by uncertain and dissatisfied behaviours. Cognitive strategies were the most used self-regulatory learning strategy among the students, followed by metacognitive and management strategies. Overall, reported academic performance was relatively (mean = 4.19), considering that the highest grade point in schools in Kosovo is five (5) (see Table 1).

Table 1. Mean and dispersion statistics for parenting styles, teacher-student interaction, SRL strategies and academic performance (N = 420).

		Mean	Standard Deviation	Minimum	Maximum
Authoritative		39.39	13.88	17	224
Authoritarian		27.45	11.32	14	127
Tolerant		33.05	6.57	21	131
Leadership		21.45	11.22	3	119
Understanding		18.92	3.96	1	24
Friendly/Helpful		17.50	7.80	1	111
Student freedom		9.72	7.93	1	106
Admonishing		11.98	12.49	1	115
Uncertain		8.48	13.49	1	112
Strict		12.22	11.65	1	115
Dissatisfied		7.56	12.25	1	110
Cognitive		51.40	10.97	25	147
Metacognitive & management		33.69	7.75	19	128
Academic Performance		4.19	0.90	1	5

Hypothesis testing

For testing the first and second hypotheses, Pearson correlations analysis was used to check whether there is a significant correlation between different parenting styles and SRL strategies (see Table 2). As per the first hypothesis, there was a significant positive correlation between authoritative parenting style and learning strategies, both for cognitive self-regulatory strategies [r (1,419) = 0.474; p = 0.000] and for metacognitive and resource management strategies [r (1,419) = 0.407; p = 0.000].

Table 2. Pearson’s correlation coefficients for the relationship between parenting styles and cognitive and metacognitive management strategies of self-regulatory learning.

	Cognitive	Metacognitive & Management
Authoritative	.474**	.407**
Authoritarian	.016	.042
Permissive	−.157**	−.113*

**Correlation is a significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is a significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The second hypothesis was partially supported. The authoritarian parenting style did not show a significant relationship with cognitive self-regulatory strategies [r (1,419) = −0.016; p = 0.743] and metacognitive and resource management strategies [r(1,419) = −0.042; p = 0.390]. While significant negative correlation of tolerant parenting style was found for both cognitive self-regulated strategies [r (1,419) = −0.157; p = 0.001] and metacognitive and resource management strategies [r (1,419) = −0.113; p = 0.021].

Although present variables are in interval scale, the normality tests Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk have revealed that these do not have a normal distribution within our sample. Therefore, the Spearman correlation coefficient was used to test the third, fourth and fifth hypotheses related to teacher-student interaction and SRL strategies.

As per the analysis of the third hypothesis, a significant positive correlation was found between the SRL strategies and teachers’ friendly behaviours (see Table 3). Specifically, a positive correlation was found between teacher’s helpful/friendly behaviours and cognitive strategies of SRL [r (1,419) = 0.341; p = 0.000], teachers leadership behaviour with cognitive strategy [r (1,419) = 0.254; p = 0.000], teachers perceived as understanding with cognitive strategies among students [r (1,419) = 0.154; p = 0.002]. The metacognitive strategy was positively correlated with the helpful/friendly behaviours of the teacher [r (1,419) = 0.209; p = 0.000]. Similarly, the metacognitive strategy was positively correlated with teachers perceived as leadership [r (1,419) = 0.117; p = 0.017] and with teachers perceived as understanding [r (1,419) = 0.085; p = 0.083]. Contrary to the hypothesis, teachers’ friendly behaviour of giving freedom to students and letting them be responsible for what they do was negatively correlated with cognitive strategy [r (1,419) = −0.173; p = 0.000] and with metacognitive strategy [r (1,419) = −0.175; p = 0.000].

Table 3. Spearman’s correlation on the correlation between teacher-student interaction and self-regulated learning strategies.

	Cognitive	Metacognitive & Management
Helpful/Friendly	.341**	.209**
Leadership	.254**	.117*
Understanding	.154**	.085
Student Freedom	−.173**	−.175**
Strict	−.142**	−.169**
Admonishing	−.124**	−.181**
Uncertain	−.225**	−.275**
Dissatisfied	−.217**	−.309**

**Correlation is a significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is a significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The fourth hypothesis was also supported by correlation analysis: teacher dominance behaviour in the classroom was negatively correlated with SRL among students. There was a negative correlation between strict teachers and cognitive strategy [r (1,419) = −0.142; p = 0.003], teachers perceived as admonishing and cognitive learning strategy [r(1,419)= −0.124; p = 0.011], uncertain teachers and cognitive learning strategy [r (1,419) = −0.225; p = 0.000], as well as teachers dissatisfied with students and cognitive learning strategy [r (1,419) = −0.217; p = 0.000]. Similarly, there was a negative correlation between metacognitive effort management strategies with strict teachers [r (1,419) = −0.169; p = 0.001], with admonishing teachers [r (1,419) = −0.181; p = 0.000], with uncertain teachers [r (1,419) = − 0.275; p = 0.000], and with teachers dissatisfied with students [r (1,419) = −0.309; p = 0.000].

Spearman correlation analysis between SRL and academic performance was conducted to check the last hypothesis. The result supports the hypothesis, as a significant positive correlation was found between SRL and academic performance (see Table 4). Specifically, cognitive strategies had a positive correlation with academic performance [r (1,419) = 0.253; p = 0.000] and metacognitive management strategies with academic performance [r (1,419) = 0.260; p = 0.000].

Table 4. Spearman correlation for the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and academic performance.

	Cognitive	Metacognitive & Management
Academic Performance	.253**	.260**

**Correlation is a significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Based on the Linear Regression analysis for predicting academic success using SRL as a predictor variable, results are statistically significant [F (1,419) = 20.69; p = 0.000]. The coefficient for SRL is 0.026 (p < 0.001), indicating a positive relationship with academic success. The model explains a moderate amount of variance in academic success (Beta = 0.217).

Further analysis

The Linear Regression analysis for predicting SRL” using parenting styles and teacher-student interaction variables as predictor variables yields that the regression model as a whole is statistically significant in predicting the dependent variable. The model explains approximately 34.9% of the variance in the dependent variable, and the addition of the predictor variables significantly improves the model fit (p < 0.000). Multiple predictor variables are statistically significant in predicting SRL. The Authoritative style appears to have a strong positive relationship [Beta = 0.544; p = 0.000] with SRL, while other styles like Permissive [Beta= −0.170; p = 0.00] and Authoritarian [Beta= −0.080; p = 0.052] show a weaker negative relationship. Furthermore, Leadership and Understanding teacher-student interaction have weak relationships with SRL [Beta = 0.092; p = 0.031; and Beta 0.083; p = 0.59].

Demographic variables

When demographic variables were analysed using regression to check their prediction value for SRL, no significant relationships were found (r square change was just 1,5%). Specifically, none of the following demographic variables had any significant predictive value for SRL: gender, education of parents (mother and father), employment of parents, perceived economic status, number of family members, and number of siblings.

Discussion

This study validates the association between parenting styles and interaction with teachers on SRL in students and students’ academic performance. The study is the first to provide evidence of the importance of these factors in SRL among Albanian-speaking students, as there have been no previous studies on this topic in Kosovo or Albania. Furthermore, parenting styles and interaction with teachers accounted for 34.9% of the variance in SRL among adolescents.

Adolescents require proper guidance from parents and teachers (Aziz & Tariq, 2019), and if they fail to support them, adolescents will interact with negativity, rudeness, and anger, which has a long-term negative impact on their academic performance. Additionally, the current study found evidence that SRL is a significant factor in academic performance. These findings are also supported by Kaya and Kablan (2013), whose study showed that SRL strategies significantly contributed to academic achievements among elementary students. In accordance with previous research, the current study demonstrates that an authoritative parenting style is positively associated with students’ SRL. The increase in available evidence regarding the connection between authoritative parenting and SRL has also been supported by the results of Fuentes et al. (2019), indicating that this parenting style facilitates proper adjustment in school through self-regulation among Spanish children. The hypothesis that authoritarian and permissive parenting styles would have a negative association with SRL, was confirmed partially. Although authoritarian parenting style resulted in a negative correlation, it was not statistically significant. Previous studies, such as the one conducted by Ning (2022), also confirmed that authoritarian families limit the ability of children to cope with pressure and diminish their motivation to strive towards goals in the long run. These conclusions also correspond with the results of Sanvictores and Mendez (2022), which suggest that permissive parents usually have minimal expectations and do not impose limitations on their children, which may hinder SRL in students.

Furthermore, a characteristic of parenting practices is the difference between conservative and liberal viewpoints based on societal values (Guidetti et al., 2017). Since the findings of the current study do not correspond to expectations regarding the negative correlation between authoritarian parenting style and SRL, it is possible that students are more influenced by authoritative and tolerant parenting styles, while authoritarian parenting is less common. Thus, we can believe that society tends to be more liberal than conservative. This finding is also consistent with Olivari et al. (2015) study, which suggests that the country’s legislation regarding family issues is related to the perception of parenting behaviours. Among three different cultures, Swedish parents were perceived as much less authoritarian than Italian and Greek parents, and more tolerant than Italian parents; Greek parents were perceived as less authoritarian and more tolerant than Italian parents. Otherwise, in Saudi Arabia children have reported authoritarian parenting as the most common in their upbringing (Owaidah et al., 2022).

In addition to parents, previous research has documented that teachers are crucial actors in providing opportunities for students to develop SRL skills (Peeters et al., 2016). The current study confirms findings from previous research that teachers play an important role in this regard, particularly the cooperative behaviour of teachers (helpful/friendly, leadership, and understanding) showed a positive association with SRL, except for the behaviour of allowing student freedom, which exhibited a negative correlation with SRL. This result may be attributed to the level of autonomy and freedom teachers offer students to make choices and decisions (Vollet et al., 2017). When teachers provide freedom without offering choices to students, it predisposes students not to become active and productive processors of information (Heilporn et al., 2021). Teacher cooperation appears to be key in the SRL process, as indicated by Kesuma et al. (2021), who found that students who receive good mentoring from teachers can identify their strengths and weaknesses, leading to proper development in SRL in the context of learning.

Moreover, the dimension of dominant behaviours by teachers (strict, admonishing, uncertain, dissatisfied) showed a negative correlation with SRL in students. Similar findings are reported in the study by Dalland and Klette (2016), which show that teachers who employ harsh interaction strategies with students are perceived as dominant and do not contribute positively to students’ SRL. Teacher reactions appear to be a natural catalyst for students’ SRL, so the absence of such cooperation leads to a lack of progress in students’ SRL (Ramis & Loh, 2019). Additionally, research has illustrated the positive effects of SRL on academic performance The current study confirms that students who were self-regulated in their learning process had higher academic success. The study’s findings are also consistent with other studies. According to Lima et al. (2023), the use of appropriate learning strategies can increase students’ performance levels and combat school failure.

Teacher participation and the people surrounding students, such as school personnel, family members, friends, and communities, play an important role in adolescents’ academic success (Moon & Bouchey, 2019). According to Bala (2022), SRL is related to parents’ high involvement in adolescents’ lives. Students with high levels of parental involvement have better SRL than students with low levels of parental involvement. A possible explanation regarding the variables can be found in the theory of Bronfenbrenner (1994); according to him, all children are at the centre of ‘layers’ of the environment that can have an important result on their development and psychosocial change. Ecological Systems Theory (EST) identifies four subsystems of the environment that influence human development: the microsystem (the child family), mesosystem (kindergarten, school, yard, neighbourhood), exosystem (social organizations of adults), and macrosystem (the practices, values, customs and cultural resources of the country). Variables such as school subjects and the type of lesson or work certainly belong to the most critical elements of the learning context at the microsystem level. On this level, is observed that the attitude of the teachers plays a pivotal role in ensuring a conducive learning environment (Amali et al., 2023). Attitudes and behaviours, students’ perception of the classroom climate or environment, as well as the classroom goal structure, norms, and practices, belong to a second level – mesosystem. For example, researchers El Zaatari and Ibrahim (2021), still considered parental involvement as one school climate factor, because the cooperation of parents with teachers, identifies the challenges of students in learning, and in this way, they encourage students to develop new learning strategies. In exosystem level changes in the organization and structure of school, when moving from elementary to high school, involvement in a special programme or section has been found to influence students’ perceptions of school and attitudes towards school work. Also, teachers again exert influence on students, but not in a direct way, because the curriculum and school culture have an impact on teachers’ beliefs and practices, which affect the students’ learning strategies (Mulisa, 2019). Macrosystem level contexts involve out-of-school environmental characteristics such as familial, cultural, economic, or political variables (Alvi & Gillies, 2020). While Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ideas allowed us to understand and explicate how teachers supported students’ SRL, we can conclude that all these subsystems are interrelated and mutually dependent. This implies that, together, these can strengthen or weaken teachers’ and parents’ efforts to promote students’ SRL.

The role of peers is not unimportant in the learning process (Jiang, 2023; Slot et al., 2020; Smith et al., 2023), but this role is more emphasized when teachers encourage the development of cooperative attitudes of students in the classroom (Nursianawati et al., 2019), in cases where students show significant difficulties in understanding tasks or contents (Jarry-Shore & Anantharajan, 2021), or to increase the appreciation of cultural and racial diversity (Joliffe, 2018).

According to Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, social interactions decisively influence the process of cognitive development, in other words, learning (Vygotsky, 1978). Based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory principles (Vygotsky, 1978), the student may initially need assistance from an adult or a more knowledgeable peer. Eventually, their zone of proximal development will expand. Teachers can help promote this expansion by Planning and organizing classroom instruction and lessons, using hints, prompts, and direct instruction to help kids improve their ability levels (R. K. Shah, 2019). Parents are the most immediate relation of a child. Therefore, their financial status and education do influence a child’s cognitive, social, and affective variables. It is suggested that parents with higher education levels may better understand their children’s educational needs and aptitude and can, therefore, help their children in their early education, which may affect their SRL (Thomas et al., 2019), however according to our results parent’s education and economic status does not have any relationship with SRL.

Bandura’s (1986) Social Cognitive theory explains how the personal, behavioural and environmental factors impact human functioning. From social cognitive theory, SRL is influenced by the students’ personal factors (cognitive, attitudes, and self-evaluation), behaviour, and environment (social support). SRL is referred to as the student who is actively engaged in learning at their own pace. Thus, teachers should encourage and assist their students via various techniques and strategies so that they can master their learning process. Such strategies like rehearsal, elaboration, and time management that involve many of the higher-order cognition processes (Bandura, 1986) are the keys to success for students. Based on this theory, parents’ involvement in children’s educational process also plays a special role (Yahaya et al., 2020).

Implications for research and practice in Kosovo and Worldwide

This is the first study in Kosovo that validates the role of parents and teachers in SRL. They provide empirical evidence for the relationship between parenting styles and teacher-student interactions and that SRL and its connection with academic success are valid in diverse cultures, such as that of Kosovo Albanian, that went through conflict and deep societal transition. Furthermore, the measurements of parenting styles, teacher interaction and SRL in the Albanian language are validated by the results supporting the hypothesis drawn from the theory.

The findings of this study hold significant implications for both local and global contexts. In Kosovo (and Albania), where this study fills a critical gap in the literature on SRL, parenting styles, and teacher interactions, the results emphasize the need for targeted interventions to improve educational outcomes. The demonstrated importance of authoritative parenting and supportive teacher-student interactions suggests that educational programmes should focus on fostering these dynamics to enhance students’ SRL and academic performance. This observation becomes particularly important when considering the subpar performance of Kosovo students in international aptitude tests, as evidenced by its low ranking among participating countries in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (OECD, 2019, 2023). While the focus has traditionally been on the shortcomings of the curriculum and the emphasis on rote memorization, this study highlights the critical role that parents and teachers play in fostering SRL. These results can necessitate change among teachers who practice teacher-centred teaching, a practice quite high among Kosovar teachers (OECD, 2019).

Educational policymakers in Kosovo can leverage these insights to develop and implement training programmes for parents and teachers. Such programmes should aim to educate parents about the benefits of authoritative parenting and equip teachers with the skills to create a supportive and structured classroom environment. It is imperative to provide teacher training programmes to improve their communication skills and strategies for fostering SRL among students, as Michalsky (2021) advocates. Considering these findings, it is strongly recommended that parental training programmes be implemented to enhance awareness regarding the pivotal role parents play in their children’s education, as well as to promote and bolster parental involvement (Durisic & Bunijevac, 2017). Initiation of these programmes for SRL would contribute to increasing the achievement rate of Kosovo students in maths, science, and language, as validated by regression analysis of this study.

Globally, the findings contribute to the broader understanding of the interplay between parenting styles, teacher interactions, and SRL across different cultural contexts. This study aligns with existing research from various countries, reinforcing the universal applicability of these relationships while also highlighting cultural nuances. For instance, the variation in the impact of authoritarian parenting styles across different cultures suggests that educational interventions must be culturally sensitive and tailored to specific societal values and norms.

Researchers can build on this study by exploring similar dynamics in diverse cultural settings, thereby enriching the global knowledge base on effective educational practices. Additionally, international collaborations can facilitate the exchange of best practices and strategies that have been proven successful in different contexts, ultimately leading to improved educational outcomes universally.

Educational institutions worldwide can benefit from incorporating authoritative parenting and structured teacher support into their curricula and professional development programmes. By prioritizing these elements, schools can create environments that foster SRL, which is crucial for students’ academic achievement and lifelong learning.

In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights for improving education in Kosovo and contributes to the global discourse on effective teaching and parenting practices. The implications underscore the importance of a collaborative approach involving parents, teachers, and policymakers to enhance students’ SRL and academic performance across various cultural contexts.

This study may have clarified some factors contributing to SRL, but it is not free from limitations. While most of the study’s hypotheses were confirmed, we acknowledge that the battery of questionnaires was long, and it may have affected the students’ fatigue and concentration. The findings are limited since they represent only elementary school students, and we cannot generalize for older students. Therefore, it is suggested that more comprehensive studies be performed with more diverse samples.

As per recommendations for educational policymakers training programmes for parents and teachers, it is recommended that longitudinal studies are conducted in the schools where training programmes are implemented to track the educational outcomes among students before and after interventions. These studies would provide further evidence on the cause and effect of parental involvement and teacher interaction on academic performance.

Author contributions

Both authors contributed to the study conception and design. Ariana Isufi performed material preparation, data collection and analysis. Ariana Isufi wrote the first draft of the manuscript, this draft was revised and edited by Mytaher Haskuka. Both authors worked together on different versions of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethical approval

The questionnaire and methodology for this study were approved by the University of Prishtina ‘Hasan Prishtina’, Department of Psychology Ethics committee. Research in the schools was approved by the Directorate of Education of the Municipality of Drenas.

Informed consent

Parents were informed of the research and informed verbal consent was obtained from them as well as from students participating in the survey. All students were informed that they had the right not to complete the questionnaire and leave the study at any time during the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Albanian is also spoken as a language in Albania, by 30% of the population in North Macedonia, and by a substantial minority in Montenegro and southern Serbia.