Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, Lorestan, Iran , sh.araban@cfu.ac.ir
Abstract: (17 Views)
Objective: The present study aimed to explain students' academic engagement in its cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions based on perceived teacher empathy and classroom learning culture, and to examine the mediating role of psychological resilience in these relationships.
Methods: This descriptive–correlational study used structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population comprised all upper-secondary school students in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in the 2024–2025 academic year. A sample of 412 students (218 girls and 194 boys) was selected through multistage cluster random sampling. Participants completed the School Engagement Measure (Fredricks et al., 2005), the empathic understanding subscale of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory adapted for the teacher–student context, selected scales of the What Is Happening In this Class? questionnaire (WIHIC), and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Data were analyzed in SPSS-26 and AMOS-24, and indirect effects were tested with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples).
Results: The proposed model showed a good fit to the data (χ²/df = 2.14, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.053, SRMR = 0.041). Teacher empathy (β = 0.29) and classroom learning culture (β = 0.34) positively predicted psychological resilience, together explaining 27% of its variance. Resilience, in turn, predicted cognitive (β = 0.31), emotional (β = 0.27), and behavioral (β = 0.25) engagement. The direct effects of both predictors on all three dimensions of engagement were also significant, and all six indirect effects through resilience were significant (p < .01), indicating partial mediation. The model explained 29%, 27%, and 20% of the variance in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement, respectively.
Conclusions: Teacher empathy and a supportive classroom learning culture enhance students' academic engagement both directly and indirectly by strengthening their psychological resilience. Teacher education programs, particularly at Farhangian University, may benefit from systematically training empathic teaching skills and the design of learning-oriented classroom cultures.
Methods: This descriptive–correlational study used structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population comprised all upper-secondary school students in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in the 2024–2025 academic year. A sample of 412 students (218 girls and 194 boys) was selected through multistage cluster random sampling. Participants completed the School Engagement Measure (Fredricks et al., 2005), the empathic understanding subscale of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory adapted for the teacher–student context, selected scales of the What Is Happening In this Class? questionnaire (WIHIC), and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Data were analyzed in SPSS-26 and AMOS-24, and indirect effects were tested with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples).
Results: The proposed model showed a good fit to the data (χ²/df = 2.14, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.053, SRMR = 0.041). Teacher empathy (β = 0.29) and classroom learning culture (β = 0.34) positively predicted psychological resilience, together explaining 27% of its variance. Resilience, in turn, predicted cognitive (β = 0.31), emotional (β = 0.27), and behavioral (β = 0.25) engagement. The direct effects of both predictors on all three dimensions of engagement were also significant, and all six indirect effects through resilience were significant (p < .01), indicating partial mediation. The model explained 29%, 27%, and 20% of the variance in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement, respectively.
Conclusions: Teacher empathy and a supportive classroom learning culture enhance students' academic engagement both directly and indirectly by strengthening their psychological resilience. Teacher education programs, particularly at Farhangian University, may benefit from systematically training empathic teaching skills and the design of learning-oriented classroom cultures.
Keywords: Academic engagement, Teacher empathy, Classroom learning culture, Psychological resilience, Mediation
Type of Study: Original |
Subject:
Educational Psychology
Received: 2026/02/2 | Accepted: 2026/08/14
Received: 2026/02/2 | Accepted: 2026/08/14
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