Structural Model of Teacher Support and Student Engagement Mediated by Self-Esteem among Elementary School Students

Student engagement is a key indicator of successful learning, yet many elementary school students in rural areas demonstrate low participation and motivation. Although teacher support is recognized as an important predictor of student engagement, the dual role of self-esteem as both a mediator and a moderator has received limited attention. This study examined the direct effect of teacher support on student engagement and the mediating and moderating roles of self-esteem. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was employed involving 240 students from Grades IV–VI in four rural public elementary schools. An instrument pilot test was first conducted with 60 students to establish validity and reliability. Data were collected using a four-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 4, including measurement and structural model evaluation with bootstrapping (5,000 subsamples). The results showed that teacher support significantly predicted student engagement (β = 0.699, p < .001) and self-esteem (β = 0.744, p < .001), while self-esteem significantly predicted student engagement (β = 0.251, p < .001). Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between teacher support and student engagement, whereas its moderating effect was not significant. These findings indicate that teacher support enhances student engagement directly and indirectly through self-esteem. The study contributes to educational psychology by providing an integrated structural model that simultaneously examines the dual role of self-esteem in rural elementary schools and offers evidence to guide teacher support and self-esteem enhancement programs for improving student engagement.