Teacher Support as a Predictor of the Social Participation of Secondary School Students: A Hypothesis Testing Model Through the Mediating Role of Self-Confidence and Communication

Teacher support contributes to students’ active participation in social life by improving their self-confidence and communication skills. The aim of the study is to examine this issue within the scope of the Social Learning Theory (SLT) and the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) by analyzing data collected at two different time points. The effect of teacher support on secondary school students’ social participation is examined in terms of the serial mediation role of self-confidence and communication. A longitudinal research model is used. Maximum diversity sampling formed the participant group, which included 947 secondary school students from different provinces across Turkey’s seven geographical regions. The Teacher Support Scale for Secondary School Students, the Social Participation Skills Scale of Secondary School Students, the Effective Communication Skills Scale and the Self-confidence Scale provided the data. The data were analyzed using an SPSS 25 package program and a Process Macro 4.2 plug-in. It was concluded that self-confidence and communication separately mediated the relationship between teacher support and social participation of the secondary school students. In addition, it was also concluded that self-confidence and communication played a serial mediating role in the relationship between teacher support and social participation of the secondary school students. The recommendations led to the examination of the hypotheses of this study with data collected over more time and with the participation of primary, high school and university students.