Background: The role of teachers in nurturing students’ sense of belonging cannot be over-emphasised. Students who do not feel accepted by their teachers are at risk of withdrawing from school life and feeling disaffected. This study contributes to theories on school belonging by investigating the contribution of teachers to students’ sense of school belonging, the association of students’ attitudes towards teachers, and their sense of school belonging with students’ mathematics achievement.
Aim: To provide empirical evidence of how students’ attitudes towards teachers contributed to their sense of school belonging, as well as their mathematics achievement.
Setting: A representative sample of 10932 grade 5 students at 297 schools in South Africa completed a contextual questionnaire and a mathematics assessment during the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
Methods: The TIMSS 2015 data were used to develop indicators of students’ attitudes towards teachers, sense of school belonging and home socio-economic status. Absenteeism and the extent of bullying were also considered. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed.
Results: A high positive correlation between students’ attitudes towards teachers and their sense of school belonging was found. Students’ attitudes towards teachers and their sense of belonging contributed significantly to mathematics achievement.
Conclusion: The study confirms the crucial role that a sound student–teacher relationship plays in a healthy sense of school belonging and in terms of academic performance. The school environment should be managed in a manner that allows for mentoring relationships between students and teachers to be strengthened.
Outline and contents
- Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
- “Green Shoots” Metaphor for TIMSS Results
- Story 1: TIMSS Grade 9 in South Africa
- Story 2: TIMSS 2015 at Grade 5 level
- Story 3: Context and Conditions Matter
2015 Grade 9 sample
292 schools
12 514 learners
| No-fee schools | Fee-paying schools | Independent schools | |
| Learner achievement | 341 (3.3) | 423 (10.0) | 477 (11.5) |
| Average mathematics score (SE) | 317 (4.2) | 425 (11.9) | 485 (11.8) |
| % of learners achieving at or above 400 in mathematics (SE) | 19.0 (1.9) | 59.6 (9.7) | 80.6 (16.7) |
| % of learners achieving at or above 400 in science (SE) | 16.4 (1.8) | 58.5 (9.3) | 81.0 (15.9) |
| Age | |||
| Average age of learners in years | 15.9 | 15.4 | 15.2 |
| Home resources | |||
| % of learners with basic home resources: | |||
| Electricity | 87 | 96 | 98 |
| Running tap water | 64 | 91 | 95 |
| Water-flush toilets | 44 | 90 | 94 |
| % of learners with pedagogical resources: | |||
| Computer | 22 | 45 | 72 |
| Internet connection | 45 | 71 | 84 |
| No or few books at home | 46 | 37 | 26 |
| % of learners with more educated parents: | |||
| Maternal education above Grade 12 | 64 | 84 | 92 |
| Parent with university education | 15.5 | 31.4 | 48.2 |
| Language | |||
| % of learners who always or almost always spoke the test language at home | 19.3 | 51.1 | 56.9 |
| School physical resources | |||
| % of learners not affected by resource shortage: | |||
| Mathematics | 1.6 | 9 | 59 |
| Science | 2.2 | 9.3 | 59 |
| % of learners whose teachers use textbooks as basis of instruction: | |||
| Mathematics | 79.8 | 59.8 | 56.1 |
| Science | 68.1 | 57.7 | 61.0 |
| % of learners whose teachers use workbooks as basis of instruction: | |||
| Mathematics | 53.3 | 35.4 | 39.5 |
| Science | 36.4 | 39.6 | 31.4 |
| School environment and climate | |||
| Teachers arriving late: not a problem | 32.6 | 44.2 | 72.3 |
| Teachers absenteeism: not a problem | 23.0 | 30.4 | 68.5 |
| Learners arriving late: not a problem | 10.3 | 6.7 | 22.3 |
| Learners absenteeism: not a problem | 7.7 | 2.1 | 44.4 |
| School safety | |||
| % of learners affected by school discipline and safety: moderate problem | 39.3 | 6.5 | 2.7 |
| % of learners who have almost never experienced bullying | 30.8 | 45.4 | 54.0 |
Grade 9
In 2015 TIMSS was conducted in 39 countries. Of these, 36 countries participated at the Grade 8 level, and three countries, namely Botswana, South Africa, and Norway, participated at the Grade 9 level. In South Africa a total of 300 schools were sampled, of which 292 agreed to participate in the study. A total of 12 514 learners, 334 mathematics and 331 science teachers participated in the study conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council.
Grade 5
TIMSS Numeracy (TIMSS-N) was introduced in 2015 to assess the foundational mathematical knowledge, procedures, and problem-solving strategies of learners at the end of primary school. South Africa participated in TIMSS-Numeracy at the Grade 5 level for the first time. Participation at the Grade 5 level allowed the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to set a baseline measure for mathematics, and later enabled them to measure the change in mathematics performance from 2015 to 2019. The Human Sciences Research Council conducted the study in 2014 in 297 schools with 10 932 learners, 297 mathematics educators, and 10 500 parents/caregivers.
For more information on TIMSS 2015 internationally, see here.
TIMSS instruments
Grade 9 learners completed assessments in mathematics and science, and Grade 5 learners completed a numeracy assessment. All learners answered questionnaires about their background, school experiences, instructional experiences, and attitudes toward learning mathematics and science. School principals and learners’ mathematics teachers also completed detailed questionnaires to provide data about school and classroom resources and approaches to education. The caregivers/parents of the Grade 5 learners also completed questionnaire about home contexts for learning.
Outline and contents
- Achievement and achievement trends in South Africa
- Individual factors and achievement
- The home environment
- The school environment
2015 Grade 5 sample
297 schools
10 932 learners
| No-fee schools | Fee-paying schools | Independent schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learner achievement | |||
| Average mathematics score (SE) | 344 (3.4) | 445 (7.7) | 506 (11.9) |
| % of learners achieving at or above 400 | 25 | 67 | 84 |
| Age | |||
| Average age of learners (years) | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.3 |
| Home resources | |||
| % of learners with basic home resources: | |||
| Electricity | 78 | 93 | 94 |
| Running tap water | 59 | 76 | 83 |
| Water-flush toilets | 41 | 87 | 89 |
| % of learners with pedagogical resources: | |||
| Computer (own) | 27 | 39 | 56 |
| Internet connection | 28 | 51 | 67 |
| % with more than 25 books at home | 37 | 62 | 84 |
| % of learners with more educated parents: | |||
| Maternal education above Grade 12 | 37 | 62 | 84 |
| Parent whose highest occupation is professional | 11 | 31 | 55 |
| Language | |||
| % of learners who always or almost always spoke the test language at home | 20 | 54 | 55 |
| School physical resources | |||
| % of learners not affected by resource shortage | 3 | 6 | 35 |
| % of learners with access to a workbook (own or shared) | 95 | 96 | 87 |
| % of schools with no computers | 68 | 28 | 36 |
| % learners in schools which provide free lunch | 89 | 56 | 20 |
| % learners in schools which have a place to do schoolwork before or after school | 52 | 48 | 82 |
| % learners in schools which have a library | 25 | 80 | 81 |
| School environment and climate | |||
| Educators arriving late not a problem | 51 | 52 | 70 |
| Educator absenteeism not a problem | 38 | 43 | 71 |
| Learners arriving late not a problem | 24 | 29 | 56 |
| Learner absenteeism not a problem | 17 | 26 | 57 |
| % learners attending schools that placed high/very high emphasis on academic success | 7 | 4 | 31 |