Engaging in school during a pandemic. How social isolation and emergency remote learning have affected student engagement in a group of Italian high schoolers.

Abstract

Student engagement is internationally recognised as having a crucial role in the learning process and outcomes. In the Italian context, however, research on this promising construct is almost entirely absent, despite the numerous issues affecting the Italian school system. The Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated said issues, offering the chance to explore student engagement in a unique context. The purpose of this study was to explore engagement from the perspective of the students through a questionnaire inquiring on their definition of the construct and measuring their level of student engagement. In particular, the research analyses the self-perceived levels of engagement in a sample of subjects attending high school in Italy, comparing their answers after a year and a half of emergency remote learning to the answers referring to their academic experience prior to the pandemic. In addition, it investigates the validity of the recent addition of a social dimension to the construct of engagement, by paying particular attention to any data indicating the role of social relationships with peers and teachers in promoting student engagement. Finally, as one of the first studies conducted on the subject matter in the Italian context, the present research also collects insight directly from the students on how teachers could promote student engagement in the classroom.