The effect of student happiness on the relationship between secondary school students' perception of teacher effectiveness and school engagement

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of student happiness on the relationship between the perception of teacher effectiveness and school commitment of students who continue education and training in secondary schools and to examine them according to some variables. The research is in the descriptive relational survey model. In the research, the total number of provinces with different socio-economic levels that make up the research population and the ratios within the general total were calculated. The number of provinces to be included in the sample at each level was calculated according to the ratio of the number of provinces at different socio-economic levels to the total number of provinces. The sampling was taken from provinces with high socio-economic development level of Antalya, from provinces with medium socio-economic development level to Burdur, Isparta, Afyonkarahisar, Hatay, Gaziantep, Düzce, Konya, and from provinces with low socioeconomic development level to Siirt and Van. The sample of the research consists of 600 students, 200 from each socio-economic level. In the research, Teacher Effectiveness Assessment Scale, Oxford Happiness Scale-Short Form and School Engagement Scale were used as data collection tools. The number of items in the scales used as a data collection tool in the study are 32, 7 and 27, respectively. In addition to the scales, the demographic variables of the students were included in the questionnaire used in the research. According to the findings obtained in the research; It was determined that our students' perceptions of school engagement, happiness and teacher effectiveness were at a good level. In addition, according to the findings of the research, it was determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between students' perception of happiness, teacher effectiveness, and student engagement. Accordingly, there is a moderately positive relationship between students' perception of teacher effectiveness and students' happiness levels, and between students' perceptions of student happiness and students' school engagement. According to another finding of the study, it was determined that the students' levels of school engagement, teacher effectiveness and happiness perception differed significantly according to the socio-economic development level of the provinces they lived in, their fathers' occupations, class levels, ages and genders of the students, while there was no significant difference according to their mothers' occupations. In the study, it was determined that the perception of teacher effectiveness is a direct positive and significant predictor of student happiness and students' school engagement. In addition, it has been determined that students' perception of teacher effectiveness indirectly predicts students' school engagement through student happiness.