Abstract
This study introduces a culturally adapted 17-item scale of school engagement. It offers an important contribution to the international literature by seeking to measure the school engagement of young people in a society undergoing transition from a collectivist to individualist mind-set alongside an education system focused on improving performance in international benchmarks such as those from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA Trends In International Mathematics And Science Study, TIMSS). To date, little has been written on how intra-individual and inter-individual factors contribute to young people’s engagement in education as societal and systemic educational reform occurs. The school engagement scale is validated by testing the empirical fit of a second-order multidimensional factor model of school engagement taken from the Western literature to large-scale data in Kazakhstan. Culturally relevant features are added such as the strong influence of ‘important others’. The model tested was formed from 1) an individual’s cognitions and behaviours associated with school and 2) the social influences of parents, peers, and teachers. 1767 secondary education students in Kazakhstan participated in the study. Confirmatory analyses supported the hypothesized additional contributory factors to school engagement. Use of the overall model indicated differences in means across gender, grade, school-type, and geographic location to show: (1) higher cognitive engagement for young women; (2) rural students with higher levels of behavioural engagement; and (3) substantial differences in social support by grade and rurality.
Highlights
This paper sets out to provide original insight on the topic of modelling and measuring school students’ engagement in Kazakhstan, as an example of a post-Soviet society and an education system undergoing rapid transition towards a more individualised Western model
Using an adapted measure of school engagement, this paper presents exploratory research and the first empirical evidence on this issue from a post-Soviet soceity intended to undergo transformation
The Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meter-Olkin (KMO) test of sampling adequacy were used to determine the appropriateness of the data for principal component analysis in the school engagement scale
Summary
This paper sets out to provide original insight on the topic of modelling and measuring school students’ engagement in Kazakhstan, as an example of a post-Soviet society and an education system undergoing rapid transition towards a more individualised Western model. Tangible returns on this investment in education are important. This is both internationally and at home to present a forward-looking trajectory of nation-building and a growing world presence (Alexander 2012). If the educational aspirations of policymakers are to be realised, young people should conform to a Western model of individualised attainment; with a suitable school climate and social support to facilitate this. Young people’s attitudes in Kazakhstan towards school should bear relation to a Western model of school engagement
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