That’s not fair! The effects of teacher justice and academic achievement on Self and Other’s resistant agency

Background: Notwithstanding the emphasis on the idea that students should be actively and accountably engaged in their educational pathways, little research has investigated learners’ agentic behaviours that take the form of student resistance to adult authority. Aims: This paper presents an experimental study aimed to assess whether, and to what extent, student Self and Other resistant agency depends on perceptions of teacher justice and student achievement. Methods: Participants were asked to read one of four scenarios concerning a generic student asking for the possibility to retake a test she/he had previously failed, with an experimental design including two levels of teacher justice × 2 levels of academic achievement. Then, they answered two items regarding the likelihood of protest on the part of the student depicted in the scenario and enforced by themselves in having to deal with a similar situation. Results: The multilevel analysis indicated a principal effect of justice and target, with resistant agency rated as more likely in the unjust condition and for the Other. The justice effect was further qualified by an interaction with the achievement level, with resistant agency higher in the unjust and low achievement condition. Finally, a three-way interaction appeared, with Self resistant agency higher in the just and high achievement condition. Conclusions: These results are discussed in terms of their implications for teacher practices, as they emphasize the importance just learning environments have in allowing students to express their opinions as well as dissent.