School environment and student engagement in universal secondary education schools’ in Tororo district, Uganda.

Abstract

Student engagement in relation to teaching and learning has been of concern in education for improvement and better teaching and outcomes. This study examined student engagement in relation to school environment in the universal secondary education (USE) schools in Tororo district. The Flow theory advanced by Csikzentmihalyi was used to explain school environment student engagement interplay. Using a cross-section survey, 402 students were randomly selected with eight purposively selected teachers as participants in the study. School environment measurement scale α = .84; and student engagement in schools’ questionnaire (SESQ) α= 82; were adopted for the study. The results revealed a good state of physical, instructional materials and social environment in USE schools in Tororo district. Though government needed to invest more in the physical and instructional materials to make it better. The students in USE schools reported high levels of engagement and there was positive significant correlation (r = 401, p < ;01) between school environment and student engagement. Thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed that, students were engaged during lessons, teachers used different techniques like question and answer, group discussions and class exercise. Conversely on physical environment, two teachers revealed that the space in the laboratories and classrooms were not enough and had no lighting. In conclusion the state of school environment was good with high student engagement which also indicated a positive relationship between school environment and student engagement. The study recommends that teachers should guide students on how to use the text books and be friendly during teaching and learning session. Government should invest more on expansion of existing laboratories, provide adequate instructional school administrators should ensure maintenance and supervision of the teaching and learning process in order to realize optimal engagement of students. Kev words: school environment: student engagement; secondary education