Family, teachers and peer support as predictors of school engagement among secondary school Ethiopian adolescent students

Abstract

This study looked at family, teacher, and peer support as predictors of teenage students’ school participation among 278, Ethiopian adolescent students aged 15 to 20 years old. According to the findings, families, teachers, and peers provide support through modelling respectful behaviour, caring for them, providing materials essential for their learning, encouraging, offering feedback, reinforcing good behaviour, and punishing poor behaviour. The correlation finding reveals that a family’s socioeconomic status, family support, teacher support, and peer support are all strongly linked to school engagement and its four components (behavioural, emotional, cognitive and agentic engagement). SES (β = .333, p < 01), family support (β = .261, p < 01), teachers support (β = .095, p < 05), and peer support (β = .140, p < 01) all contributed substantially to total school engagement, according to data from multiple regression. Predictor factors also showed substantial variation (F = 40.435, p < 01, R2 = .499), accounting for 49.9% of the variance in total school engagement. According to the results of hierarchical regression teachers’ support moderated the link between family support and school engagement considerably (R2 = .017, p < 01), Recommendations have been sent to interested parties in order to encourage the required assistance offered to adolescent students from the environment and to improve their school participation.

Keywords:

• Family
• teachers
• peer support
• school engagement
• SES are some of the key phrases

1. Introduction

The educational system in the 21st century is characterised by technological advancements and the necessity for countries to develop competent individuals who can work hard and actively engage in learning. As a result, experts, policymakers, and educational authorities all around the world are concentrating their efforts on increasing student engagement and success in school. As a result, school engagement has been recognized as one of the most important developmental and educational outcomes throughout the last three decades (Fredricks et al., 2004). Students’ active participation in school activities, the use of appropriate learning techniques, exerting effort, the absence of behavioural issues, curiosity, the absence of anger, boredom, and emotional difficulties, and greater self-regulation are all characteristics of school engagement (Fredricks et al., 2004). It’s also been described as a dynamic, social, and synergistic process, with features that represent a complex network of interactions between individuals and their social environment (Wang & Eccles, 2013).

Over a long period of time, studies on school engagement have mostly focused on three factors (i.e. behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement). Behavioural engagement refers to a student’s participation in academic as well as extracurricular or social activities (Fredricks et al., 2004). Behavioural involvement may take many forms, from just obeying the rules and performing the work to joining various school groups and committees. Emotional engagement refers to a student’s willingness to participate in school activities such as work, as well as their good and negative reactions to instructors, classmates, and the school, as well as their capacity to form beneficial relationships with an institution (Fredricks et al., 2004). Emotional engagement can range from respect for students, staff, and the school as a whole to complete identification with the institution. Similarly, cognitive engagement is being thinking and willing to put up the work required grasping complex ideas and master difficult abilities. Cognitive engagement refers to students’ endeavour that ranges from simple memorization to the application of self-regulated learning procedures that foster deep knowledge are all examples of cognitive engagement (Fredricks et al., 2004).

In addition to the three aspects of school engagement already in the literature, agentic engagement has developed as an essential school engagement construct in education. It described as students’ practical and active contribution to the education they receive (Reeve, 2012). As a result, the level of school engagement is linked to the amount to which students use learning techniques and take responsibility for their academic work. In general, school engagement is multidimensional in nature, which is critical for achieving positive academic outcomes and preventing academic-related problems such as alienation, boredom, and dropout, as well as for establishing supportive relationships between students and institutions, assisting students in understanding complex concepts and mastering difficult skills, and encouraging learners to participate in their own learning.

At both the individual and social levels, school participation has been linked to a variety of outcomes. According to Gallup (2013), adolescents who are highly engaged in school are more likely to be satisfied with their lives, feel better about them, and produce higher-quality work later in life. Students who are actively involved in school are also less likely to participate in substance misuse, delinquency, or hazardous sexual behaviour (Antaramian et al., 2010). Furthermore, according to Fredricks et al. (2004), students with low levels of school engagement are more likely to drop out, experience boredom in class, lack interest, and have poor academic performance or results. In general, school participation helps to reduce issues that might arise throughout adolescence, such as substance abuse, school dropout, delinquency, and criminal activity. In general, students that are fully engaged in school get a slew of advantages. They will be given the required skills to prepare them for their future life by enrolling in better jobs and continuing their schooling.

As a result, today’s adolescents must be heavily involved in schooling in order to foster long-term personal, family, and societal well-being. In this context, studies discovered that adolescents’ school engagement predicts their educational success in secondary school (Delfino, 2019; Fatou & andKubiszewski, 2018; Sattar et al., 2019). According to the aforementioned thesis, school engagement is linked to important developmental outcomes that students will achieve during their adolescent years by boosting appropriate environmental supports and reducing negative school behaviours. As a result, the issue of high school involvement, which most often coincides with the teenage years, requires the attention of supporting environments and policymakers. Improving adolescent school engagement is a difficult endeavour. It necessitates human effort such as family; teachers and peers.

The support adolescents receive from the particular situation they experience will influence how adolescents think, feel, and act in school. Emotional, informational, material, and appraisal support could be provided to adolescents from their environment. Adolescents benefit from support from a variety of sources, including family, teachers, classmates, and close friends, to improve academic adjustment, engagement, and achievement (Zhou et al., 2019). As a result, family, teachers, and peer support are important contexts for adolescent development, both academically and non-academically.

Researchers, educators, and policymakers are all fascinated by the influence of family, teachers, and peer support on student participation in school. For instance, studies indicate that school engagement is influenced by teachers’ support (Appleton et al., 2008; Fernández-Lasarte et al., 2019; Fredricks et al., 2004; Roorda et al., 2017), family support (Diogo et al., 2018; Doctoroff & Arnold, 2017; Fernández-Lasarte et al., 2019; Fernández-Zabala et al., 2016) and peer support (Fernández-Lasarte et al., 2019; Kızıldağ et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018). Lawson and Lawson (2013) also reviewed the importance of family and peer support to enhance students’school engagement. Similarly, Fredricks et al. (2016), A. J. Fredricks et al. (2018), and Wang and Eccles (2013) found that social support from teachers and peers is positively related to student engagement.

When teachers, families, classmates, and other school personnel show respect, care, and support for students, they become more interested in school (Maddox & Prinz, 2003). According to a study conducted in China, teacher support predicts three dimensions of engagement (cognitive, behavioural, and emotional; Liu et al., 2018). Furthermore, Ahmed et al. (2018) affirmed the determining elements of school engagement. According to the study, teachers’ support and student engagement were found to have a substantial beneficial relationship. They also underlined that significant teachers’ support moderates the relationship between academic efficacy and academic resilience with student engagement. Similarly, teachers who reported higher levels of self-compassion, higher levels of need satisfaction, and use of autonomy-supportive used more autonomy-supportive and structuring motivating styles (Moè & Katz, 2020). Furthermore, Weyns et al. (2018) discovered that peer acceptance and teacher support both influence school engagement. These findings suggest that when adolescents are connected to and receive the essential support from their families, teachers, and peers, they develop a strong desire to attend school and exhibit low behavioural problems, both of which contribute to increased school engagement.

In Ethiopia, one of the least developing countries in the world, the majority of families do not know their support in adolescent’s education and they perceive that school activity is mostly the responsibility of school (Jones et al., 2019). Mostly, Peers are also seen as challengers rather than resources that assist adolescents in achieving academic success. The role of family, teachers and peer support in promoting school engagement with three dimensions (behavioural, emotional, and cognitive), no studies have looked into how these variables influence school engagement in four dimensions, including agentic engagement. As a result, this study will add to the existing body of knowledge in the field

1.1. Support from family, teachers, and peers

In the school, family, teachers, and peer support are all regarded essential contexts. Because teenagers spend a significant amount of time with these crucial environments, it is vital to investigate what sort of assistance they receive from their families, instructors, and peers. The research identifies and discusses four primary forms of supports that adolescent students receive from their family, teachers, and peers. Students develop school belongings and are more engaged in school activities when they receive appropriate assistance from their classmates and teachers and form constructive relationships with one another (Veiga et al., 2014). Emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal supports are the major types of support discussed in the literature.

Adolescents can always obtain social and academic support from important sources such as parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends, (Malecki et al., 2000). These resources are divided into three categories: emotional, informational, and appraisal instrumental. Instrumental support entails providing tangible tools and money to students learning and teaching skills, whereas emotional support refers to behaviours such as caring, trust, empathy, and love. Informational support is giving students instruction and information to help them learn, whereas appraisal support entails giving students’ feedback on their schooling (Malecki et al., 2000). Another focus was instrumental assistance, which addressed how environment provide some instruments that are important for adolescent learning. Instrumental supports, according to C. K. Malecki and Demaray (2003), are practical supports that involve teachers providing tangible support, spending time to help students grasp ideas, questioning, correcting, clarifying, elaborating, and modelling educational behaviours.

1.2. Theoretical background

Student engagement has been generally defined as the conceptual cement that ties student agency (such as past experience, skills, knowledge, and interest at school, home, and in the community) to the school, as well as its ecological impacts (family, peers, and community). As a result, the dominating social-psychological lens of research is drawn to incorporate important socio-ecological factors in the conceptualization of school engagement.

According to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological theory, both human attributes and circumstance can impact developmental outcomes. Three primary assumptions have been drawn during this procedure. The first assumption is that an active individual has an impact on his or her surroundings. The second concept is the function of the environment in supporting people in adapting to their surroundings. Understanding different sizes of environments and reciprocal relationships between microsystems, mesosystems, exosystems, and macrosystems is the third assumption. Bronfenbrenner proposed a bidirectional relationship between the person and the environment, in which the child’s views and conduct are influenced by the context and vice versa. Bronfenbrenner and Morris (2006) explored the function of human traits as components of the theory and therefore as an effect on developmental outcomes and, at the same time, as a development in their bio ecological model.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory was concerned with the function of intrapersonal/psychological characteristics as well as external elements in enhancing or diminishing behaviours. According to the social-ecological model, parental, peer, and teacher support is a determining element in the growth of a student’s school participation. To this purpose, the Bronfenbrenner ecological viewpoint will be used to examine how individual factors (such as gender and grade level), family characteristics (SES), and context (family, teacher, and peer support) are linked to school participation.

1.3. The study’s objectives

The study’s major objective is to look at the influence of family, teachers, and peer support, as well as other demographic factors, in predicting secondary school students’ school engagement. It was meant to be used in a certain way;

• To find out how adolescents feel about their families, instructors, and peers.

• To see if there was a link between socio-demographic characteristics in secondary school (gender, age, grade level, family SES), family support, teacher support, peer support, and school engagement.

• To see how much family, teacher, and peer support influence secondary school students’ school engagement.

2. Methods

2.1. Design of the study

A mixed methods research methodology was used in this study. Mixed research methods is a methodology for doing research that involves collecting, evaluating, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or a series of studies that examine the same underlying phenomena, according to Creswell and Plano Clark (2007). Concurrent triangulation of the mixed methods research design was used in this study. The mixed research technique of concurrent triangulation is a strategy for integrating quantitative and qualitative data and cross-validating or correlating findings from various sources (Creswell, 2003). Data collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data will be done concurrently or simultaneously and independently under this approach, and then merged at the interpretation phase.

2.2. Participants

The research was carried out at Ambo secondary school in Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state. Based on information collected from the school administration, the study’s population comprised of 2,413 (male = 1, 277, female = 1, 136) secondary school students. The sample size determination assumption of Krejcie and Morgan (1970) was used to pick individual samples for quantitative data from this number. As a result, 284 people (Male = 150, Female = 134) were chosen from the overall population using a stratified sampling approach to include both male and females of all promotional classes. As a result, a random sampling approach was employed to choose a sample from all of the strata based on grade levels and gender. Twelve students and four teachers were also chosen for interviews on their perceptions of family, teachers, and peer support in order to acquire qualitative data. As a result, 12 students were chosen for the interview, three from each of the grades nine through twelve.The student interviewees were recruited from the pool of students who completed the survey. Similarly, for each grade from ninth through twelve, one teacher was selected. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected at Ethiopia’s Ambo secondary school from June 3 to 10 June 2021.

2.3. Instruments

The questionnaire consisted of three sets of categories was utilized to collect quantitative data for this study: demographic factors, School Engagement and Family, Teachers, and Peer Support. An interview was performed to acquire qualitative data from teachers and students.

2.4. Scale of student engagement in school

The School Involvement Scale with four dimensions created by (Reeve & Tseng, 2011) was translated and utilized in this study to measure school engagement. According to Reeve and Tseng (2011), the four dimensions of school engagement have satisfactory internal consistency, with the cognitive dimension having high internal reliability (alpha = .88), the emotional dimension having adequate internal reliability (alpha = .78), the behavioral dimension having strong internal reliability (alpha = .94), and the agency scale having five items having (alpha = .82). As a result, the scale’s psychometric properties were observed and found to be good, and it was acknowledged as a legitimate instrument for measuring school involvement. Reeve and Tseng (2011) developed a brief and cost-effective scale for measuring the four widely acknowledged components of school involvement in the literature (i.e., cognitive, affective, behavioural and agentic engagement).

As a result, the School Engagement scale has been regarded as a valid and trustworthy tool that may assist researchers in gathering data for studies or treatments on student school engagement.

2.5. Family, teachers, and peers support scale

The Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki et al., 2000) was adapted and used to assess family, teacher, and peer support. It is a 60-item, multidimensional self-report assessment of children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of academic social support from five sources: parents, teachers, classmates, close friends, and school. Each of the five subscales has 12 items that assess emotional, instrumental, appraisal, and informational support, respectively. Using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), participants were asked to assess the frequency with which they perceive these supports from their family, teachers, and classmates (Strongly agree).

Higher scores indicate higher perceptions of support from a specific source, while lower scores indicate lower perceptions of support from a specific source. Frequency scores for each subscale are calculated by adding the frequency ratings on the 12 items, with higher scores indicating higher perceptions of support and lower scores indicating lower perceptions of support from a specific source. Only the family, teacher, and classmate subscales were employed in this study.

Previous researches have demonstrated the validity and reliability of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale. As a result, subscales (parent, teacher, and classmate) demonstrated strong internal consistency, with alpha values ranging from.92 to.93 (C.K Malecki & Demaray, 2006).

2.6. Measure of SES

SES was estimated using subjective indicators of SES using rank-related social ladders (ten ladders), in which teenage students rate their families in relation to others by taking into account their wealth, educational level, and employment.

2.7. Validation of instruments

Researchers must carefully construct or adjust any instrument or other means by which they measure or gather data regarding study participants. As a result, all necessary processes were followed in order to employ culturally sensitive measures in the research of the role of family, teachers, and peer support as predictors of school participation. Various procedures were taken to validate the initial school involvement, family, teacher, and peer support measures. The validation process started with a translation of the scale from English to Afan Oromo, following the relevant requirements. In Ethiopia and neighbouring African nations, the AfanOramo or Oromo language is widely spoken. After Swahili and Yoruba, Oromo is Africa’s third most frequently spoken language. As a result, a committee was formed to oversee the forward translation, backward translation, and synthesis of the translated instruments, with the Afan Oromo version being fine-tuned by a team of language specialists.

Finally, the final Afan Oromo version was developed when backward and forward translators reached an agreement on the contextual meaning of each item’s terms. Participants were asked to score all items on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), and instruments were created in the form of a likert form. By computing the content validity index and internal consistency, the translated measures’ validity and reliability were assessed. The scales’ consistency is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the scales

Variables	Number of items	Cronbach’s Alpha (α)
Family Support	12	0.92
Teachers Support	12	0.89
Peer Support	12	0.90
Behavioural Engagement	5	0.81
Emotional Engagement	4	0.73
Cognitive Engagement	8	0.89
Agentic Engagement	5	0.83
Total School Engagement	22	0.92

Table 1 shows that all of the scales’ Cronbach’s Alpha results were above.80. Thus, the instrument has satisfactory internal reliability.

2.8. Procedures

The study began with obtaining a formal letter from Addis Ababa University’s School of Psychology, as well as contacting municipal officials, school principals, and students. With the principals, discussions were made concerning the study’s goal and how to obtain the study’s target subjects. Easy access to information for the study was enabled through creating strong relations with pertinent bodies and participants. As a result, the essential techniques were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was gathered from students with the support of school principals, instructors, and data collectors. Face-to-face interviews were used to gather qualitative data regarding students’ and teachers’ perspectives on family, teachers, and peer support. This procedure was used to obtain information on how teachers and students are aware of the resources available from their families, teachers, and classmates.

2.9. Method of data analyses

Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), Pearson correlation, and multiple regression after the relevant data had been gathered and entered. The data’s normality, homoscedasticity, multicollinearity, and linearity were all checked before using this quantitative analysis. Thematic Analysis was used to analyze qualitative data acquired through an individual interview. The most appropriate way of a qualitative method for detecting, interpreting, and reporting patterns is thematic analysis (themes). According to Braun and Clarke (2006), thematic analysis can be an essentialist or realist method that reports participants’ experiences, meanings, and reality, or a constructionist method that investigates how events, realities, meanings, and experiences are the result of a variety of discourses operating within society.

3. Results

Data was obtained from 284 secondary school students (150 males and 134 females). Because six students did not complete the questionnaire, data from 278 (Male = 149, Female = 129) secondary school students was analysed.

Scores on school Engagement, family, teachers, and peer support are summarized in the table below.

Mean and standard deviation scores were computed to summarize the raw data of the family, teachers, and peer support and sub-scales, as well as total school participation of secondary school adolescents. The mean scores on the measures of family, teachers, and peer support, as well as school engagement and its subscales were somewhat above but close to the predicted mean. As a result, respondents reported receiving moderate levels of support from family, instructors, and peers, as well as a low degree of school involvement. Table 2 below summarizes the findings.

Table 2. Summary statistics of the family, teachers and peer support and sub-scales and overall scores of school engagement (N = 278)

Variables	Number of items	Min.	Max.	Mean	Expected Mean	S.D
FS	12	20.00	55.00	37.03	36	8.95
TS	12	20.00	53.00	37.02	36	7.90
PS	12	20.00	53.00	38.83	36	7.38
BE	5	7.00	25.00	16.06	15	3.96
EE	4	4.00	20.00	12.59	12	3.02
CE	8	9.00	40.00	25.25	24	6.66
AE	5	5.00	25.00	15.92	15	4.09
SETOT	22	37.00	95.00	69.73	66	14.16

Note: FS Family Support, TS Teachers Supports, PS Peer Support, BE Behavioural Engagement, EE Emotional Engagement, CE Cognitive Engagement, AE Agentic Engagement, SE School Engagement

3.1. Interrelationships between variables

For demographic factors, family, teachers, and peer support, as well as School Engagement, a bivariate correlation was calculated. Table 3 depicts the link between the study’s factors.

Table 3. Correlations among predictor and outcome variables

	Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1.	Age	1
2.	Grade Level	0.920**	1
3.	SES	−.030	−.004	1
4.	Family S	0.027	0.050	0.836**	1
5.	Teachers S.	0.082	0.105	0.500**	0.524**	1
6.	Peer S.	0.000	0.002	0.523**	0.537**	0.390**	1
7.	BE	0.144*	0.136*	0.600**	0.606**	0.481**	0.394**	1
8.	EE	−0.035	−0.042	0.445**	0.497**	0.341**	0.390**	0.443**	1
9.	CE	−0.069	−0.058	0.525**	0.542**	0.390**	0.356**	0.457**	0.497**	1
10.	AE	0.090	0.105	0.468**	0.446**	0.397**	0.394**	0.459**	0.440**	0.546**	1
11.	SETOTAL	0.043	0.054	0.670**	0.665**	0.458**	0.493**	0.722**	0.711**	0.827**	0.773**	1

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

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

Table 3 presents the correlations between predictors and outcome variables.

SES was shown to be associated with Behavioural Engagement (r = .600, p < 01), Emotional Engagement (r = .445, p. 01), Cognitive Engagement (r = .525, p < 01), Agentic Engagement (r = .468, p < 01), and overall School Engagement (r = .670, p < 01). As a result, adolescents from greater socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to participate in their schooling. Family Support was also significantly associated with behavioural Engagement (r = .606, p < 01), Emotional Engagement (r = .497, p < 01), Cognitive Engagement (r = .542, p < 01), Agentic Engagement (r = .446, p < 01), and overall School Engagement (r = .665, p < 01). Similarly, behavioural Engagement (r = .481, p < 01), Emotional Engagement (r = .341, p < 01), Cognitive Engagement (r = .390, p < 01), and Agentic Engagement (r = .390, p < 01) were similarly positively connected to teacher support. Peer support was also shown to be strongly and favourably associated to overall School Engagement (r = .493, p < 01) and its subscales. This finding suggests that adolescent students who receive greater support from their family, instructors, and peers are more likely to participate in their studies.

The majority of interviewees also mentioned the significance of family, instructors, and peer support in improving their school participation. Family, instructors, and peer support, they said, had a good influence on their school participation. Student respondents agreed that their family, teachers, and peers are the most important sources of learning assistance for them. Adolescents are more likely to participate in their learning if they feel welcomed, respected, and driven by their peers. Even while peers are crucial sources of support, not all friends are supportive to adolescents.

3.2. Results of regression indicating predictors’ contributions to school engagement

To see which of the predictor factors contributed significantly to the variation in the result variables, multiple regressions were used. Sex (after dummy coding), age, grade level, SES, family support, teacher support, and peer support were all included as predictor factors. The outcome variables were school engagement and its subscales. Before performing the regression, mandatory assumptions such as variable normality, multicollinearity, homoscedasticity, and model fit were tested. The results of numerous regressions are shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Results for regression analyses examining the contributions of demographic variables and family, teachers and peer support to school engagement

	Overall School Engagement		School engagement (SE)
			Behavioural		Emotional		Cognitive		Agentic
	β	SE	β	SE	β	SE	β	SE	β	SE
Sex dummy	−0.029	1.214	−0.027	0.363	−0.060	0.315	0.009	0.668	−0.071	0.423
Age	0.054	1.247	0.215	0.372	0.082	0.323	−0.021	0.686	0.032	0.434
Grade Level	0.018	1.351	0.091	0.403	0.144	0.350	0.067	0.743	0.057	0.471
SES	0.333**	0.946	0.288**	0.283	0.041	0.245	0.185*	0.521	0.262**	0.330
Family Sup.	0.261**	0.128	0.247**	0.038	0.342**	0.033	0.295**	0.071	0.051	0.045
Teacher Sup.	0.095*	0.092	0.182**	0.027	0.088	0.024	0.132*	0.051	0.162**	0.032
Peer Sup.	0.140**	0.099	0.039	0.030	0.147*	0.026	0.050	0.055	0.162**	0.035
	R^2 = .499 F = 40.435**		R^2 = .43 F = 30.8**		R^2 = .265 F = 15.247**		R^2 = .315 F = 19.156**		R^2 = .271 F = 15.676**

*p < .05, **p < .01

Table 4 indicated that family, teachers and peer support along with demographic variables exhibited a significant variance (F = 40.435, p < .01, R² = .499), explaining about 49.9% of the variance in the overall school engagement. Hence, the overall school engagement was significantly predicted by SES (β = .333, p < .01), family support (β = .261, p < .01), teachers support (β = .095, p < .05) and peer support (β = .140, p < .01). The contribution of predictor variables to the components of school engagement was also computed. Accordingly, family, teachers and peer support with demographic variables demonstrated a significant variance and explaining about 43%, 26.5%, 31.5% and 27.1% in behavioural, emotional, cognitive and agentic engagement respectively. More specifically, behavioural engagement was significantly predicted by SES (β = .288, p < .01), family support (β = .247, p < .01) and teachers support (β = .182, p < .01). However, peer support doesn’t significantly contribute to behavioural engagement. Likewise, emotional engagement was significantly predicted by family support (β = .342, p < .01) and peer support (β = .147, p < .05). But, SES and teachers support were not significantly contributed to emotional engagement. Another dimension of school engagement, cognitive engagement, was also significantly predicted by SES (β = .185, p < .05), family support (β = .295, p < .01) and teachers support (β = .132, p < .05). Similarly, there was an independent significant contribution of SES (β = .262, p < .01), Teacher support (β = .162, p < .01) and peer support (β = .162, p < .01) to agentic engagement.

The above finding showed that adolescent students with strong family, teacher, and peer support, as well as a high socioeconomic status, are more likely to participate in their education. Gender, age, and grade levels, on the other hand, had no significant impact on school engagement and its subscales.

3.3. The impact of predictor factors’ interactions on total school engagement

A moderated hierarchical regression was used to see if family, teachers, and peer support moderated each other’s association with school engagement. The hierarchical multiple regressions are shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Results for hierarchical regression analyses examining the contributions of the interactions between family support, teachers support and peer support on school engagement

Variables and interaction	Overall School Engagement
	β	R^2 (R^2 Adjusted)	∆R^2	F
Family Support Teachers Support Family Sup.*Teachers S.	1.255*** 0.722*** 1.092**	0.459 (.455) 0.476 (.470)	0.017	82.944**
Family Support Peer Support Family Sup.*Peer Sup.	0.791** 0.354 -0.347	0.468 (.465) 0.470 (.464)	0.002	81.010
Teacher Support Peer Support Teacher Sup.*Peer Sup.	0.408 0.458* 0.153	0.326 (.321) 0.326 (.319)	0.000	44.266

Note. N = 278; *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Family, teachers, and peer support all influence school participation separately, according to the interaction result. Teacher support moderated the link between family support and school involvement (β3 = 1.092; ∆R2 = .017, p < .01) according to the results of hierarchical regression, showing that adolescent students who view their teachers as helpful also see their families as supportive. Peer support, on the other hand, had no effect on the association between family and school engagement, nor on the relationship between teacher support and school engagement.

3.4. Students’ views on family, teachers, and peer support

Students and teachers were interviewed on how they perceive support from their family, teachers, and classmates. During the interview, four key types of supports that adolescent students receive from their families, teachers, and peers were recognized and explored under four themes: emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal supports.

3.4.1. Emotional Support

A significant issue that emerged from the interview data is emotional support. Emotional support is defined as adolescent students’ perceptions of their environment (family, instructors, and classmates) as caring, warm, and friendly. Emotional support entails being respectful of and listening to the needs of those seeking assistance, as well as displaying a loving attitude toward the recipient.

With regard to this statement 18-year-old male student in grade 11th stated that;

“My families, teachers, and friends help me in many ways. He said that “they always urge me to do well in school. For example, my family inquires about my needs and assures me that they would be there for me in any situation. My family is really proud of my academic achievements. When they found out that I am working hard and getting high grades at school, they were ecstatic. I am ecstatic to have such wonderful family.”

He also added that

“My teachers and classmates also assist me in many ways. The majority of my teachers are constantly concerned about me, supporting me, and praising me when I perform well. They also give me guidance and encourage me to ask questions without fear of being judged. My peers and I also support each other. Some of my classmates have been really helpful. They care about me, and I care about them.”

Supportive families and teachers are those who provide resources to assist adolescents in their education, monitor their students, and keep their adolescents from engaging in unwanted activities. Concerning this, a female student in grade 12 stated:

“My families help me succeed in school by motivating and encouraging me. At the same time, they refuse to allow me go wherever I want, wasting my time and engaging in activities that could jeopardize my education and life. By doing so, I am proud of them because I believe they care about me and want the best for me. They want me to succeed in school. In reality, caring parents and even teachers not only provide for their children’s needs, end encourage them but they also monitor and discipline incorrect behaviours.”

Respecting, caring, encouraging, and embracing students’ inquiries, as well as listening to students’ views and opinions, were mentioned by adolescent students as essential support offered by their family, teachers, and peers. Encouraging and supervising adolescents are also considered as supports that families and teachers provide to adolescents.

Teachers, according to the interview data, provide a crucial setting for adolescent students by offering emotional supports that may aid in their learning. With regard to this, one male Physics teacher who teaches grade 10 students remarked that:

“I have been assisting my students in numerous ways. First and foremost, I respect them and pay attention to how they act in and out of class. As a teacher, I have a big obligation to not only respect my pupils, but also to urge them to respect each other and their teachers, as well as to warn and discipline those who do not follow the rules or do not complete their work correctly.”

Teachers play a vital role in pointing students in the right route for learning. They ensure that their education runs smoothly by getting to know their students, assessing their needs, and treating them properly during the teaching and learning process. Regarding this assertion, one English language teacher from grade 12 added that

“To be honest, instructors play a significant role in the future of these youngsters. As a teacher, I assist them in a variety of ways. When providing assistance to students, you must first assess their requirements and then approach them to provide assistance. I always set clear limits and restrictions when I approach them. As a person, I like dealing with these students and am constantly concerned about their well-being.”

From the above assertion, teachers can give emotional support to students by inviting their questions, respecting them, understanding their needs, approaching them, and warning and disciplining bad behaviour.

3.4.2. Instrumental support

Instrumental supports are a type of support that adolescents receive from their families, teachers, and peers. In this research, it was an essential issue that discussed how families, teachers, and peers supply some of the resources that adolescents need to learn. Instrumental support refers to the concrete assistance that adolescents require from their surroundings. From the interview data families can help supply resources for an adolescent’s schooling and day-to-day activities. Regarding this assertion, a grade nine, 17-year-old female student stated that; “My family’s support and supervision is constantly with me. My father, in particular, is often asking whether I want any resources, such as exercise books, novels, or other educational materials.” Thus, families may help an adolescent’s education by giving necessary resources such as text books, books, and other relevant materials, as mentioned above.

Teachers also give critical assistance to adolescent students by providing appropriate learning resources. Teachers give assistance by recommending students to necessary books and investing their time to ensuring that students thoroughly comprehend the subjects by arranging tutorials that aid students in their learning. Teachers can provide instrumental Support to adolescent pupils as well. With regard to this statement, one male mathematics teacher who teaches grade 11 and 12 students remarked that;

“Though our school does not have enough resources to serve our students, instructors are finding various strategies to support their pupils. For example, I am constantly around students who are in need of support and seek for my assistance. I understand, respect, and welcome my students. I assist them by offering whatever assistance I can and scheduling tutorials for pupils. Students have a variety of needs, including those who do not have supportive families or who come from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. These students require not just academic assistance and motivation, but also material and financial assistance. The school does not have a budget for such assistance, but we, as teachers, occasionally give money and buy things for the pupils with the help of other students.”

Adolescent students can also receive the required educational support from their classmates. Cornering this claim a 12th grade student remarked

“ … I have a wonderful relationship with my friends. We frequently contact with one another about our schooling and how to achieve in admission exams. We help one other by discussing ideas while studying, as well as exchanging guide books, notes, and other materials. My buddy also understands my financial difficulties because I come from a low-income home; therefore they provide me with material and financial aid for my education.”

Adolescents can also borrow resources needed for their education from their classmates and friends by lending pen and books to peers and offering school uniforms and other necessary materials to students from low-income families.

Students can help each other’s by donating money to purchase educational resources for those who are in need. They can help one other with their studies by encouraging and motivating each other. When adolescents consider their peers to be helpful, they feel safe and joyful. Instrumental support, in general, entails the supply of educational materials and aid with schoolwork.

3.4.3. Informational support

Adolescents require informational support from their settings in order to be successful in their schooling. It is a type of assistance that involves guidance, advice, ideas, and demonstrating direction from family, teachers, and peers. Adolescent students may learn about their studies, how to manage their time, and how to engage with their peers and friends in order to succeed in school. Almost every teenager polled said that informational help is one of the most essential things that instructors provide for them. This assistance may be seen in how students are advised on how to take notes, study skills, time management, and how to deal with negative peer pressure. For example, a grade 10 male student stated that;

“My parents are always concerned about who I will study with and how I will study. They provide me with knowledge that I require for my studies. They give me advise, warn me, and even penalize me if I waste my time playing pointless games, which is why I’m here. They encourage me not to waste my time on unproductive things, instead supporting and even monitoring my time management.”

Teachers also give support and guidance on how students should take notes and read. They encourage and urge them to focus on their studies. Teachers give adolescent students with informational assistance through teaching vital skills for their education and being receptive to questions from students. Teachers may also assist students in becoming competent in their studies by connecting them to valuable materials and advising them on how to manage their time and become active participants.

Teachers use this information to give informative assistance to teenagers, ensuring that they do not stray from their responsibilities and that they receive the essential learning recommendations.

Another source of adolescents learning feedback is peers. Despite the fact that not all peers offer equally good information, they openly connect with one another and share knowledge that is beneficial to their development. Adolescents receive varying levels of informational supports from their peers. Student participants said as there are helpful peers who provide important information for the education of adolescents. They also disclosed that some peers refuse to assist them in devoting time to their education rather they attract them to other activities and play.

3.4.4. Appraisal support

Families, teachers, and peers all have a role in giving appraisal support to adolescents by reviewing and offering comments on their performance. These critical environments frequently examine how adolescent students perform in school, how they connect with their classmates, and how they utilize available resources. Families and teachers may help by noticing if their adolescent is focused on his or her education, attending school, completing assignments, and studying extensively. They may also provide adolescents comments that will help them improve their learning and reprimand them if they are not paying attention. Appreciating students for their excellent behaviours, giving incentives and awards, and warning and disciplining those who are not completing their assignments or engaging in superfluous activities are all ways to convey these feedbacks. Adolescents who get this type of feedback are more likely to be actively engaged in their learning and to stay away from behaviours that are harmful to their development.

Teachers give comments on students’ assignments, exams, and school engagement and performance. Appreciating students for their achievements and explaining unclear topics are also examples of these types of feedback. When it comes to this support, a female student in grade 10 remarked,

“When I perform well in school, my families and teachers are really pleased of me and encourage me even more. Teachers who are really concerned even reprimand students when we fail to complete assignments and advise us not to engage in negative behaviours.”

Feedback is one technique to mould one’s life and motivate students to succeed in their studies. Adolescents’ performance in school is largely determined by the feedback they get from their family and teachers. Supportive teachers and families continuously warn and monitor their teens to avoid wasting time on frivolous pastimes.

4. Discussion

The study’s major goal was to look at the influence of family, teachers, and peer support, as well as other demographic factors, in predicting secondary school students’ school engagement. Adolescent students receive a variety of supports in a variety of ways. Emotional support, instrumental/material assistance, informational support, and appraisal support were the most common types addressed in the literature and recognized during the interview. The information gathered from adolescent students and teachers through interviews reflects the emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal supports the major supports that families, teachers, and peers give to adolescent students. During the adolescent stage, these supports are crucial in boosting their school belongings and engagement.

Evidence indicated that adolescents can obtain emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal supports from a variety of sources, including parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends (Malecki et al., 2000). Emotional support refers to behaviours such as caring, trust, empathy, and love (C. K. Malecki & Demaray, 2003). It includes respect from teachers, have been shown to improve students’ school engagement, establish a sense of security, and help them focus on their study (Patrick et al., 2007; Ryan & Patrick, 2001). Informational support is giving students advice and information that will help them learn, whereas evaluation support entails giving feedback on their schooling (Malecki et al., 2000). Instrumental supports, according to C. K. Malecki and Demaray (2003), are practical supports that involve teachers providing tangible support, taking time to help students understand concepts, questioning, correcting, clarifying, elaborating, and modelling behaviour that contribute to students’ education.

These supports include not only delivering what adolescents require, but also monitoring, and disciplining them when they are not concentrating on their studies and indulging in unproductive activities. When their families watch what they do at school as well as with whom they study and play, students think that their family support them. On the other hand, families who allow their children to go wherever they want and participate in inappropriate activities may not be seen as supportive. Supportive families are the ones that aid adolescents with their education by punishing bad behaviours at home and at school.

Thus, supportive families and teachers, are not only those that provide and refer required materials such as books and educational materials, but also those who follow their students and even reprimand poor behaviour. Adolescents’ perceptions of their families’, instructors’, and peers’ support can influence their educational results. The outcomes of this study corroborate other findings that imply that teachers’ support is academic and social in character, and that it has improved students’ school adjustment (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Eccles & Roeser, 2011; Wang & Eccles, 2013).

In this study, adolescents rated their perceived family, teachers, and peer support as moderate. Jones et al. (2019) article demonstrates that teenage pupils in east Hararghe, Eastern Ethiopia, were increasingly absent from school as a result of low SES, which allowed them to look for jobs. Secondary school adolescents’ school engagement, willingness to study, enthusiasm in academic activities, reading, and attendance were not high, according to the Ethiopian Education Development Roadmap (2018–30) draft report. Therefore, the current study clearly depicts the existing status of Ethiopian adolescent students’ school engagement as inadequate and can assist professionals in giving special attention and work on improving it.

According to the current findings, family, teacher, and peer support are all positively correlated and predict adolescent students’ school engagement. This result is supported by various studies in the area who argue that school engagement is influenced by family support (Diogo et al., 2018; Doctoroff & Arnold, 2017; Suna et al., 2020); teacher support (Appleton et al., 2008; Fredricks et al., 2004; Roorda et al., 2017); and peer support (Kızıldağ et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018). Similarly, the studies by Fernández-Lasarte et al. (2019), Fernández-Zabala et al. (2016), and Chen (2005) illustrated a positive relationship between perceived social support from family, teachers, and peers and school engagement. According to the findings of a study in the same area, adolescents who experience more support from their families, teachers, and classmates are more likely to perform better in school, spend more time studying, not miss school, avoid problem behaviours, and be more involved in school (Rosenfeld et al., 2000). This research supports Liu et al. (2018); Ahmed et al. (2018), who found that teacher support is a strong predictor of school engagement. In fact, various factors may prevent all teachers from providing equal support to their students. According to a study by Moè and Katz (2020), teachers who reported higher levels of self-compassion, higher levels of need satisfaction, and use of autonomy-supportive and -structuring motivating styles used more autonomy-supportive and structuring motivating styles. On the other hand, teachers who self-derogate report higher levels of need for frustration and burnout from their use of controlling and chaotic motivating styles (Moè & Katz, 2021, 2020).

Moreover, Weyns et al. (2018) found that both peer acceptance and teacher support impact school involvement, which is consistent with this result. According to prior research (Patrick et al., 2007; Ryan & Patrick, 2001), students who feel respected and cared for by their teachers are more likely to feel comfortable at school, concentrate on their academics, and have a greater desire to learn. As a result, teachers’ support for adolescent students can boost students’ motivation to go to school, reduce absenteeism, and increase school involvement. Supportive peer interactions are also more important than ever during adolescence. Studies assert that peer academic assistance, which includes informational and emotional support, has also been shown to boost school engagement and motivation by providing security, information, and clarification of teacher instructions (Wentzel et al., 2010). From this finding, teacher support moderated the association between family support and school involvement. This means that adolescent pupils who think their families are supportive also think their teachers are supportive.

According to the study, the four components of school engagement are predicted by family, teachers, and peer support. Hence, family, teachers, and peer support all have an influence on behavioural engagement. This means that students who see their environment as helpful are less likely to miss school, engage in disruptive behaviour, and are more likely to follow directions and participate in classroom activities. Furthermore, environmental supports were positively related to students’ emotional responses to school learning activities (emotional engagement); their ability to process new material and connect it to previous knowledge (cognitive engagement); and their ability to contribute to their learning (agentic engagement).

Various studies in Ethiopia have explored the effect of contextual factors (family, teachers, and peer support) on students’ outcomes. For example, Amare Misganaw et al. (2018) discovered a strong and significant relationship between parental childrearing practice and adolescents’ psychosocial functioning, indicating that children raised with good care, support, understanding, encouragement, responsiveness, consistent disciplining, and controlling are more likely to develop healthy psychosocial functioning. AyeleAbesha (2013) also investigated the association between parenting style and achievement motivation and found that students who described their parents as authoritative had higher achievement motivation and academic self-efficacy. Furthermore, a study by Bireda and Pillay (2018) found that good parent-child communication has a positive effect on subjective well-being. Evidence also revealed that the school climate had a strong and positive relationship with student achievement in Ethiopian secondary schools (Geleta, 2017). Moreover, despite the fact that their study only included university students, Belay Tefera and GirumTareke (2017) found that instructor support, university support, and peer group support all improve psychological well-being among college students.

Supportive student–context connections, in fact, have a vital role in increasing students’ school engagement by minimizing absenteeism, boredom, and behavioural issues. Supportive relationships with family, teachers, and peers are also vital in promoting students’ social, emotional, and academic outcomes. Families, teachers, and peers who care about their pupils, encourage them, respect them, and have a good attitude are more likely to boost their school participation.

In this study, gender differences in school engagement were not found. This result contradicted United Nation Population Fund’s (2019) research, which claimed that adolescent girls in Ethiopia are more likely than boys to fail exams due to years of low attendance and an overabundance of household tasks (Jones et al., 2019). In contrast to this finding, Jones et al. (2019) discovered that in Ethiopia, families often provide less material support for education and impose household responsibilities on their daughters, preventing them from actively attending school. On the other hand, a study conducted outside Ethiopia by Fernández-Lasarte et al. (2019) found substantial gender differences in high school adolescent school engagement, with females reporting greater emotional and behavioural engagement than boys. A study by King (2015) found no significant gender differences in school participation in the Philippines, which is consistent with the findings of this study. The current study also found that a family’s socioeconomic status has significantly predicted school engagement. Poverty, according to a World Bank (2013) study on developing nation inclusion in Ethiopia, is the primary cause of low educational engagement and achievement. Poor families, according to this survey, are unable to give their children the required support. As a result, their students are more likely to be disengaged at school.

5. Limitations of the study

The study focused on adolescent students’ perceptions of family, teachers, and peers’ support. These perceptions may or may not accurately reflect the real actions of families. Future research could look into specific behaviours of families through interviewing and collecting survey data. Administrators and principals could be included in future studies. In addition, there may be a reciprocal relationship in which students who participate actively in school receive and perceive positive support from their teachers, peers, and families. According to the findings, teachers’ support may be reduced as a result of students’ passivity, lack of interest, and motivation. As a result, future studies could concentrate on the reciprocal effects of students’ academic outcomes on family, teacher, and peer support. The pandemic of COVID-19 also made it impossible for the researcher to freely interact with participants and posed some problems, particularly during interviews with teachers and students. Despite these constraints, the researcher had made every effort to ensure that the study was a success and worthwhile endeavour. Finally, this study did not examine how different types of support (emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal) influenced students’ school engagement and self-concept. As a result, future research might focus on how each sort of support influences school engagement and other developmental outcomes.

6. Conclusion

The supporting setting, which includes family, teachers, and peer support, is a significant factor in optimal school engagement. The study’s goal was to look at the influence of family, teachers, and peer support on secondary school adolescents’ school engagement. According to interviews with students and teachers, families, teachers, and classmates provide support through modelling polite behaviour, caring, providing tools essential for their learning, offering feedback, and encouraging adolescents. These supports are academic as well as social in character. Such favourable environmental support may lay the groundwork for increased school engagement. These Adolescents’ school participation was influenced by their perceptions of family, instructors, and peer support. The study’s findings demonstrated that school engagement is substantially connected with and contributed by family, teachers, and peer support. SES was also shown to have a substantial impact on school engagement in the study. Similarly, the study found that teachers’ support moderated the association between family support and school engagement considerably. Finally, the study found no significant relationship between gender, grade level, or age and school engagement. In general, this study found that the more supporting components adolescent observe in their family, teachers, and peers, the more they engage in their learning. In fact, adolescents who receive appropriate assistance from their immediate surroundings are more likely to respect school and enjoy academic activities. In general, the supportive environment for adolescents’ education includes family, teachers, and peers. As a result, the school should raise awareness to assist families in providing the required assistance to adolescent students. The neighbouring educational institutions and schools should also design professional development training to assist teachers in supporting their students. Peers are not adversaries; rather, they are resources that assist adolescents in achieving academic success. They must have a favourable attitude toward their classmates. As a result, critical life skill training for adolescent pupils is required in order for them to assist one another.

In general, the role of family functioning, teachers, and peer support in enhancing school engagement is clearly demonstrated in this study. This means that boosting students’ school engagement requires more than just formal educational settings; it also requires improved family, teacher, and peer support for learners. For better educational outcomes, teachers and families must focus on providing this important support. This support is especially important in developing educational resilience in countries like Ethiopia, where educational resources are scarce and families have low socioeconomic status. As a result, at all levels, necessary interventions to enhance adolescents’ school engagement through taking into account the dynamic interaction between relevant environments (such as family, teachers, and peers) should be established.

Data Availability

The datasets generated and analysed in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ejigu Olana

Ejigu Olana has a PhD degree in Applied Developmental Psychology from Addis Ababa University of Ethiopia. He has developed nine different children book and published over six articles that inspired further inquiry in the fields of Education, Psychology, and Behavioural Sciences. His research interest is laid in the adolescents’ and children school engagement, academic motivation and factors affecting them including contextual and personal factors. The research reported in this paper is part of wider research conducted on the area to investigate the role of family, teachers and peer support as predictors of school engagement and the mediating role of academic self-concept. Ejigu is also known in Ethiopia for delivering life skills training to adolescent on the area of study skills, peer and peer pressure, time management and psychosocial supports.He can be contacted at email: [email protected]

Belay Tefera

Belay TeferaKibret is a Professor of Psychology and editor-in-chief of the Ethiopian Journal of Behavioral Studies in the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University. He has been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in family dynamics, parenting and child/ adolescent development, support and education. He has produced several research reports, book chapters, books, and journal articles in these areas. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]