School Context and Academic Engagement: A Longitudinal Study on the Mediating Effect of the Motivational Self System

This study investigated the mediating effects of the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) in the associations between students' perceived school context and academic engagement. Data were collected from 748 secondary school students studying in public and private schools in Tehran, Iran. They completed measures on school context, the L2MSS, and academic engagement, collected in two waves over an academic year. By adopting a multi-dimensional perspective within the framework of self-discrepancy and possible selves theories, we found that students' subjective perceptions of school context factors were significantly associated with their engagement with differential values and strengths. The results of path analysis corroborated the partial and full mediating effects of the L2MSS, demonstrating the pivotal role of the ideal self in engaging students behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively. While the learning experience was associated with both behavioral and emotional engagement, the ought-to self was only related to behavioral engagement. We also found that the factor highly associated with the ought-to self was school order and organized functioning, which might compromise students' emotional experiences. By identifying the important factors associated with student engagement, school psychologists, administrators, and teachers could foster engagement by relying on and satisfying psychological aspects recognized as influential in the relationships between perceived school characteristics and student engagement.