Teacher Emotional Support and School Engagement: The case of Physical Education Teachers and Students in a Prominent Local College

Abstract A large number of published papers have investigated the relationship between perceived teacher emotional support and students’ engagement in school across a variety of subject areas at the primary and secondary levels. However, very few or none of these studies examine the topic in the context of physical education in higher education. It would be highly desirable for a study comparable to this one to be carried out within the context of tertiary education in order to address the dearth of scholarly works that concentrate on these two constructs. In light of this, the current study investigated the connection between teachers’ emotional support and their student’s level of engagement in their academic work. The participants in the study were undergraduate students (males = 374, females = 536) who were enrolled in minor PE courses at a prominent local college in Angeles City, Philippines. Following the calculation of Spearman’s rho and multiple regression analyses, the findings revealed that perceived teacher emotional support (along with its three distinct features: positive atmosphere, teacher sensitivity, and regard for the adolescent perspective) is significantly associated with [r(908) =.519, p < .05)] and has a direct influence on [F(3, 906) = 120.508, p <.001] school engagement. Additionally, this study highlighted the critical role that PE instructors play in providing students with emotional support, which in turn leads to higher levels of engagement and achievement reports. The presentation includes suggestions for the professional development of teachers of PE and future research initiatives.