From Students’ Disruptions to Engagement: The Mediating Role of Classroom Management Strategies in Public Secondary Schools

Classroom management is often conceptualized as the process of organizing and regulating classroom activities to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of learning. A well-managed classroom fosters student engagement and minimizes disruptions. Given the significance of this issue in secondary schools, this study aimed to explore the relationship between student engagement and disruptive behaviors, with classroom management strategies as a mediating factor in public secondary schools. A quantitative survey was conducted to collect data from secondary school teachers using a simple random sampling technique, resulting in a sample of 630 teachers. To ensure reliability and validity, existing standardized instruments were used for data collection. Data analyses were performed using SPSS, employing simple linear regression, the Sobel test, and an independent samples t-test. The findings revealed a significant relationship between student engagement and classroom management strategies. Additionally, a significant relationship was observed between students’ disruptive behaviors and classroom management strategies. Although some variability was present in the results, the overall findings indicate that effective classroom management strategies positively impact student engagement while reducing classroom disruptions. Furthermore, the study found that while male and female teachers generally employed similar strategies to engage students and minimize disruptions, their specific classroom management approaches differed.