Health Practices and Classroom Engagement of Minority Pupils in the Southern Philippines

Abstract

When pupils are physically healthy, they engage actively in classroom activities and perform higher in their learning. This study aimed to determine the relationship between health practices and classroom engagement. This study employed a correlational research design. It involved all sixty-three (63) minority pupils in a public elementary school in Sarangani Province in the southern Philippines during the school year 2015-2016. Tailored and modified questionnaires were used to gather the needed data. The statistical tools employed in the analysis were frequency count, percentage rate, weighted mean, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The results showed that pupils display health practices to a great extent. They also exhibit a high level of classroom engagement. The analysis further revealed that there is a moderately significant relationship between health practices and classroom engagement. Hence, this study provides evidence as regards the influence of the health practices on classroom engagement. It is recommended that more comprehensive researches should be conducted in different contexts, with larger samples, and exploring the influences of other relevant variables.