Teaching to engage: Deriving practical conclusions from longitudinal data.

Abstract

Teaching to promote motivation in Japanese elementary schools is about helping students engage with material. Engagement describes how students think, act, and feel when they work on their learning tasks. Research has indicated that supportive teaching in elementary schools involves several specific elements, including pacing, clarity, and interest of instruction. In this study, we worked from a single research question: “How does teachers’ initial support predict students’ in- class engagement at two future time points?” The two goals of this study were (a) to demonstrate how effective teaching early in the school year has a continued influence on elementary school students’ engagement across a single school year; and (b) to provide an example of two facets of quantitative research, namely cross-sectional and longitudinal modeling. Results indicated supportive teaching early in the year had a predictive effect on engagement. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.