The Neglected Minority: Perceived Student Engagement, Teacher Emotions, and Well-Being among Male English Teachers

Teacher well-being is closely connected to teachers’ classroom experiences, yet limited research has examined how perceived student engagement and discrete teacher emotions are associated with the well-being of novice male English teachers. This study therefore investigated the associations among perceived student engagement, teacher enjoyment, anxiety, boredom, and well-being in the context of Chinese senior high school English education. A two-wave time-lagged design was adopted. Using convenience sampling, 339 novice male English teachers from Chinese senior high schools completed measures of perceived student engagement and teacher emotions at Time (1) Four weeks later, they completed a measure of teacher well-being at Time (2) Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the hypothesized direct and indirect associations. Perceived student engagement was positively associated with subsequent teacher well-being. It was also indirectly associated with well-being through higher teacher enjoyment and lower teacher anxiety and boredom. These findings indicate that teachers who perceived their students as more actively engaged tended to report more positive emotional experiences, fewer negative emotional experiences, and higher well-being four weeks later. The findings extend current understanding of how teachers’ perceptions of student classroom engagement are associated with their emotional experiences and subsequent well-being. Schools may benefit from combining engagement-oriented instructional practices with emotion-focused professional development to support the well-being of novice male English teachers.