Student Engagement in the School: Interpersonal and Inter-Center Differences

Abstract

[EN[This research project aims to identify differences in students’ engagement in School life, in terms of both socio-personal characteristics (sex and educational stage) and type of school (state, private with some state funding and cooperative). Participants were 1229 students aged between 9 and 17 (598 from a worker cooperative and 631 from state and private stated-funded schools of the Basque Country and Catalonia). Three components were distinguished in engagement (emotional, behavioural and cognitive) as measured by a Spanish version of the Leadership, Organisational Learning and Student Outcomes (LOLSO) questionnaire by Mulford, Silins and Leithwood (2004). These data are related to the responses given to the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) questionnaire by Goodenow (1993), which examines factors affecting school engagement, with specific focus on students’ sense of belonging. The results indicate that girls’ engagement is higher than that of boys; that it decreases as students move up the school; and is higher in the worker cooperative than in the state or private stated-funded schools. Engagement was also found to be related to teachers’ work and the relationship between teachers and students.

[ES]Esta investigación tiene por objeto identificar diferencias en la implicación del alumnado en su centro escolar tanto en función de características sociopersonales (sexo y ciclo educativo) como de la titularidad del centro (público, concertado, cooperativa). Participan en la misma 1229 estudiantes de entre 9 y 17 años (613 de un colegio cuyo profesorado conforma una cooperativa y 656 de centros públicos y concertados del País Vasco y Cataluña). Se diferencian tres componentes en la implicación (el emocional, el conductual y el cognitivo) medidos mediante una versión castellana del cuestionario Leadership, Organizational Learning and Student’s Outcomes (LOLSO), de Mulford, Sillins y Leithwood (2004); se relacionan estos datos con las respuestas al cuestionario Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM), de Goodenow (1993), que analiza factores que afectan a la implicación escolar y específicamente al sentimiento de pertenencia. Los resultados indican que la implicación de las alumnas es mayor que la de los alumnos; que disminuye según avanza el curso escolar; y que en el colegio-cooperativa es superior a la de centros de titularidad pública y concertada. La implicación, por otro lado, guarda relación con el trabajo de los docentes y con las relaciones entre estudiantes y profesores.