Author(s):
Veiga, Feliciano 
; Galvão, Diana ; Almeida, Ana ; Carvalho, Carolina ; Janeiro, Isabel ; Nogueira, João ; Conboy, Jay ; Melo, Madalena ; Taveira, Maria do Céu ; Festas, Maria Isabel ; Bahia, Sara ; Caldeira, Suzana ; Pereira, Tiago
Date: 2012
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/7582
Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Subject(s): Students’ Engagement in School; Personal Variables; Contextual Variables; Academic Outcomes; Intervention
Description
This work is financed by National Founds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, in the
context of the project PTDC/CPE-CED/114362/2009- Students Engagement in Schools: Differentiation and Promotion, coordinated by Prof. Feliciano H. Veiga. Students’ Engagement in School has been the focus of debate concerning academic success and school dropout, and pointed out as a mean to address the problems affecting our schools and their students, not only for having value in itself, but also for being an important mediator between several
academic variables. This paper reviews the research and literature on this concept and its relations with personal and contextual variables, as well as with academic performance, with the aim of
summarizing the main relationships found. Literature presents a significant number of studies which sustain that personal variables, such as self-efficacy and self-concept, as well as contextual - peers,
school, family- are related with school engagement. The adoption of mastery goals, for instance, has a positive impact on school, as they are related with the use of cognitive and self-regulatory strategies
by students. Positive relationships with peers, teachers support and the quality of family relations are associated with higher levels of engagement and academic performance, while negative experiences,
such as bullying, are related with educational difficulties. Following this, we reflect about the relevance
of studying engagement in school, in the context of widespread financial crisis, and emphasize the need to rethink educational institutions considering the paradigmatic changes that currently occur.
