A Phenomenographic Investigation of Teacher Conceptions of Student Engagement in Learning - Research Study Overview

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

Internationally, educational stakeholders are concerned about high student disengagement, shown through early school leaving, problematic behaviour, and low academic achievement. Student engagement is a contested concept with multiple theoretical interpretations in academic literature. A phenomenographic study mapped secondary school teachers’ conceptions of student engagement and identified six qualitatively different ways of understanding it. Findings indicate teachers do not share a uniform meaning of engagement. For engagement to support education, the term needs clearer definition in research and policy documents.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Defining student engagement

Multidimensional models of engagement

Alternative classifications and hierarchical approaches

A Phenomenographic Investigation of Teacher Conceptions of Student Engagement in Learning Lois Ruth Harris University of Auckland, New Zealand Abstract Internationally, educational stakeholders are concerned with the high levels of student disengagement, evidenced by early school leaving, poor student behaviour, and low levels of academic achievement. The solution, student engagement, is a contested concept, theorised in a variety of different ways within academic literature. To further understand this concept, a phenomenographic study was conducted to map secondary school teachers’ conceptions of student engagement. Six qualitatively different ways of understanding student engagement were found. This research indicates that teachers do not hold similar understandings of what student engagement means. If the concept of engagement is to become educationally fruitful, the term must be more explicitly defined in educational research and government policy documents to promote shared understandings amongst stakeholder groups. Introduction Worldwide, educationists are concerned with student disengagement from school and learning. Disengagement has been cited as a major cause of deviant behaviour at school, truanting, and low academic achievement (Carrington, 2002; Lamb, Walstab, Tesse, Vickers, & Rumberger, 2004) . Educationists are especially concerned with correlations between disengagement and early school leaving (Finn & Rock, 1997; Lamb, Dwyer & Wyn, 2000; McMillan & Marks, 2003; Willms, 2003) . Much of the research into disengagement has been commissioned by government organisations hoping to gain insight into problems relating to student retention and behaviour. Some educationists consider engaging disengaged pupils to be one of the biggest challenges facing educators, as between 25%(Willms, 2003) and over 66%(Cothran & Ennis, 2000) of students are considered to be disengaged. The Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 35, Number 1, April 2008 •57 LOIS RUTH HARRIS Desires to increase engagement have led to interest in measuring and collating data about student engagement, as has been done by organisations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Willms, 2003) and Indiana University (Viadero, 2004) . The OECD has used results from the Programme for International Student Assessment to generate statistics about levels of engagement in forty-three member countries (Willms, 2003) . Indiana University is currently developing a standardised test to sell to schools, enabling them to measure levels of student engagement and compare their data to district, state, and national benchmarks (Viadero, 2004) . In Australia, states such as Queensland have begun to discuss measuring their students’ levels of engagement. Education Queensland’s (2003) Middle School Action Plan states that “Assessment and reporting requirements and accountability for student performance and engagement will be strengthened in state schools”(p. 9), constructing engagement as something schools will have to assess and report. Defining student engagement While there is general agreement that student engagement produces positive outcomes, defining the concept is problematic as there is disagreement about what counts as student engagement. Student engagement developed as an academic concept during the 1970s and 1980s, with many early constructs emphasising timeon-task and participation (McKinney, Mason, Perkerson, & Clifford, 1975; Smyth, 1980) . Other primarily one-dimensional models then emerged that mainly focused on the psychological or cognitive dimensions of engagement (Ainley, 1993; Miller, Greene, Montalvo, Ravindran, & Nichols, 1996; Newmann, Wehlage, & Lamborn, 1992) . Many academics now view engagement as a multidimensional construct, although many studies investigate only one dimension. Fredericks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004) classify 44 engagement studies into behavioural, emotional, and cognitive cat

FAQs

What issue motivates the study described in the abstract?

High levels of student disengagement, reflected in early school leaving, poor behaviour, and low academic achievement.

How does the study investigate the meaning of student engagement?

Through a phenomenographic study that maps secondary school teachers’ conceptions of student engagement.

What do the results suggest about teachers’ understanding of engagement?

Teachers do not hold similar understandings of what student engagement means, indicating that shared definitions are needed.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa