Exploring the impact path of school connectedness on student development through cultivating students' social emotional skills

Based on OECD’s Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) Asian data (n=23560), this study examines the pathways through which school connectedness influences students’ positive development using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that school connectedness predicts student positive development through the chain-mediating effect of “interpersonal skills→emotion regulation skills”. School connectedness is associated with Social emotional skills (student engaging with others). Social emotional skills (student engaging with others)predicts Social emotional skills (student emotion regulation). These two social emotional skills both predict student positive development. Student-classmate relationship and perceived relationship with teachers contribute to school connectedness. Energy, stress resistance, and optimism are important social emotional skills. The outcomes are primarily reflected in positive emotions at school and student school engagement. The study elucidates the internal mechanism through which the school environment predicts student development via a sequence of social emotional skills, offering meaningful implications for optimizing school connectedness and cultivating students' social emotional skills.