Perceived Teacher Reinforcement and Academic Self-Concept Among Low-Achieving Secondary School Students in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya

Abstract

This study examined the association between perceived teacher reinforcement and the academic self-concept of low-achieving secondary school students in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya, where no local evidence links the two for the lowest-achieving learners. Framed by Shavelson and Marsh’s hierarchical model of academic self-concept and reinforcement theory, the study used a cross-sectional, convergent parallel mixed-methods design; because no reinforcement programme was delivered and data were collected at one time point, it reports associations rather than effects. From a population of 25,075 low-achieving students, 964 class teachers and 241 deputy principals, 384 students completed a five-point Likert questionnaire (reinforcement subscale α = 0.85, self-concept subscale α = 0.89) and 68 teachers and 34 deputy principals were interviewed. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and bivariate regression; interview data using reflexive thematic analysis. A statistically significant, moderate positive association emerged between perceived reinforcement and academic self-concept (r = .547, R² = .299), the two sharing about 30 per cent of their variance. Interpersonal, verbal reinforcement (M = 3.54–3.72) was reported more frequently than formal recognition through assemblies and certificates (M = 3.15–3.28), and interview accounts converged on the importance of everyday, effort-focused recognition. Because both measures came from one self-report source at one time, reverse causation and common-method bias cannot be excluded, and the composites are provisional pending factor-analytic validation. Schools should strengthen specific, effort-focused classroom reinforcement, supported by school counselling.