Teacher–student relationships and academic achievement in Confucian educational countries/systems from PISA 2012 perspectives

Abstract

Classroom climate in seven Confucian Asian countries/systems was examined with respect to three dimensions: teachers’ affective qualities, behavioural-classroom management style and cognitive-pedagogical approaches. The results based on PISA 2012 data showed that there were substantial variations in classroom climate across the seven Confucian countries/systems, with Shanghai and Singapore showing the most positive climate; Korea and Japan showing the least positive; and Hong Kong, Macao and Taipei being in-between. The latent profile analysis further revealed the existence of four classes: ‘Low Cognitive-Pedagogical Approaches’ (Class 1), ‘The OECD Averages’ (Class 2), ‘High Affective Qualities’ (Class 3) and ‘High Cognitive-Pedagogical Approaches’ (Class 4). While disciplinary climate was the strongest predictor of students’ mathematics performance, consistently across all countries/system, Class 3 characterised by high affective qualities showed the highest mathematics performance. The findings suggest that both discipline and teacher support are the important and meaningful dimensions of classroom climate for Confucian Asian students.