Categorising student behaviours as manifest indicators of learning engagement: a contextual approach

Abstract This study explores how student behaviours can be categorised as indicators of affective, behavioural, or cognitive learning engagement or disengagement depending on instructional context. We address the persistent misalignment between the widespread theoretical conceptualisation of student learning engagement as a complex, multidimensional psychological construct and its lack of consistent empirical operationalisation in the extant literature. The study is based on analysis of thirty-eight hours of classroom observations across four Danish primary schools using a qualitative abductive approach. Findings suggest that the same behaviours (e.g. gaze, questioning, off-task talking) can signal different engagement dimensions based on task structure, teacher-student interaction, and instructional cues. By incorporating these contextual features into the analytical process, we demonstrate how interpretive ambiguity in behavioural categorisation can be reduced. We propose a diagnostic framework that supports more consistent and context-sensitive identification of engagement indicators. This framework may enhance construct validity in future studies.