Contrasting school dropout: The protective role of perceived teacher justice

Abstract

BackgroundSchool dropout is a serious issue with high individual and societal costs. Although numerous risk factors have been studied, those related to the proximal learning environment have mostly been neglected. AimIn this study we tested whether a feature of the learning environment, i.e., students’ perception of being treated fairly by teachers, could reduce their intention to drop out. Sample547 9th grade students (56% male, 94% born in Italy, Mage = 13.92). MethodParticipants answered a questionnaire on teacher justice and intentions to drop out at the beginning (T1), middle (T2) and end (T3) of the school year. ResultsA latent growth model indicated that intentions to dropout increased over time and perceptions of teacher justice had a negative association with the increase both at T2 and T3, even after controlling for gender, nationality, motivation, and perceived learning difficulty. ConclusionThese findings suggest that teacher justice can play a relevant protective role against early school leaving.