The dynamics of learning engagement and its relationship with teachers’ classroom practices in primary school

ABSTRACT

The current study was part of a larger project which examined teachers’ classroom practices and relationships with students’ learning engagement in primary-school education in Estonia. The focus was the role of autonomy supportive and structured teaching on learning engagement. Two primary-school teachers and their 46 students were selected for this study. The aim of the study was to explore how teachers’ classroom practices influence students’ learning engagement over two years during grade two and grade four of the educational system. Three trained observers rated classroom practices and students self-reported learning engagement. The results highlight primary students’ high-learning engagement, and did not confirm an expectation that low-autonomy-supportive teaching results in low-learning engagement in primary school.

KEYWORDS:

• Autonomy-supportive teaching
• structured teaching
• learning engagement
• primary school
• longitudinal study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Institutional Research Funding project IUT18-2 ‘“Teachers” professionality and professionalism in changing context’, and research project A/1116 ‘Relationships between teaching practices, pupils learning outcomes and motivation in first stage of primary school’ at Tallinn University.