Classroom Discipline Across Forty-One Countries: School, Economic, and Cultural Differences

Abstract

This study examined classroom discipline and its determinants through multilevel analyses of 107,975 students in 7,259 schools from 41 countries. In schools with proportionately more girls, better school discipline, higher achieving students, more teacher support, or better teacher-student relations, students reported better classroom discipline. Countries’ economies and cultural values were linked to reported classroom discipline. In countries that were poorer, more equal, or had more rigid gender roles, students reported higher classroom discipline. Moreover, school variables’ links to classroom discipline differed across countries. Specifically, in richer countries, teacher support and teacher-student relations had stronger, positive links to reported classroom discipline. In more equal countries, students’ mathematics achievement had stronger, positive links to reported classroom discipline. Moderation effects of cultural values were also explored.