The Literature Review: Interesting Concepts

Today, I have been researching the topic of teacher involvement in classroom engagement, as this in now more focused to my inquiry. In his article titled, ‘The Relationship Between Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Motivation and Engagement and Teachers’ Enjoyment of and Confidence in Teaching’. Martin (2006) outlines the aim of the article to examine the relationship between teachers’ enjoyment and confidence and student motivation and engagement. Martin (2006) defines student engagement as ‘students’ energy and drive to engage, learn, work effectively, and achieve o their potential at school and the behaviours that follow from this energy and drive’ (p 73). 

He then establishes his standpoint that a classroom environment and effective teaching are significant contributors to student engagement, a widely received concept. One point that I found particularly relevant and poignant to my inquiry topic was that the student-teacher relationship is directly linked to students’ motivation levels (Martin, 2006). In particular he states that, ‘Teachers higher in warmth tend to develop greater confidence in students’ (Martin, 2006, p 75). This is something that I would like to explore further.

In the methodology section, Martin (2006) explains how the study was carried out by using the, ‘Student Motivation and Engagement Scale’ (Martin, 2001, 2003). Questionnaires based on the scale were distributed to 1, 019 teachers across both Primary and Secondary schools.

The data presented shows links between the student engagement and teachers’ confidence and enjoyment (Martin, 2006). If their students have ‘mastery’ over their work, teachers feel more enjoyment. Similarly, ‘persistence’ and ‘planning’ showed the strongest correlation to high levels of teacher confidence. However, Martin (2006) identifies that, ‘teachers’ excessive affective reliance on students’ motivation may render them somewhat vulnerable to shifts in their students’ level of motivation’ (Martin, 2006, p 86).

To conclude, Martin (2006) reiterates his argument that much of the previous literature has shown clear links between effective teaching and engagement, yet more research is needed to fully understand how much of an impact teachers’ confidence and enjoyment have on student motivation and engagement.

I found this article significant to my inquiry, as I would now like to research the theories of autonomy verses control and the student-teacher professional relationship in more detail. This way I can see if other literature agrees or disagrees with these ideas and question if these concepts do affect classroom engagement.

For any BAPP students involved in education and teaching, what are your thoughts on this relationship between teachers' enjoyment and confidence and student engagement?

Reference List

Martin, A. J. (2006) ‘The Relationship Between Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Motivation and Engagement and Teachers’ Enjoyment of and Confidence in Teaching’ Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 34 (1), 73-93