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Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Considerations in Understanding Student Engagement in Schools: Promoting the Development of Diverse Students Around the World

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Handbook of Research on Student Engagement

Abstract

In the last decades, student engagement has captured the attention and curiosity of researchers across the world, because of its importance in promoting positive development outcomes. This chapter highlights the role of culture in student engagement at school. The first section of this chapter offers definitions of culture, multiculturalism, multicultural psychology, cross-cultural research, and student engagement at school to establish a shared understanding of these constructs. The second section of the chapter describes the similarities and differences regarding the conceptualization of student engagement across races and ethnicities in the United States and internationally across countries around the world. Next, the chapter contributes a review of current student engagement measures that have been validated for use with diverse cultural populations around the world. The fourth section summarizes relevant research about how student engagement promotes positive outcomes for students across cultures. This chapter concludes with the implications for future empirical research incorporating cross-cultural considerations in understanding student engagement in schools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Shane R. Jimerson

  2. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China

    Chun Chen

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  1. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Amy L. Reschly

  2. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Sandra L. Christenson

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Jimerson, S.R., Chen, C. (2022). Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Considerations in Understanding Student Engagement in Schools: Promoting the Development of Diverse Students Around the World. In: Reschly, A.L., Christenson, S.L. (eds) Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07853-8_31

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