Enhancing student engagement is widely acknowledged as essential for academic success and lifelong learning. Empirical evidence demonstrates that student engagement is associated with academic achievement (Fredricks et al., 2004), fosters positive youth development, and contributes to long-term outcomes such as career success (Christenson et al., 2012).
Previous research has identified various pedagogical strategies to enhance student engagement. Fredricks et al. (2004) highlight teacher support, classroom structure, autonomy support, and task characteristics as key antecedents. Regarding autonomy-supportive instruction, Reeve et al. (2008) emphasize behaviors such as asking students what they want or need and encouraging students’ voices. Additionally, Shernoff (2012) suggests clarifying the activity's importance or goals and engaging in peer and adult interactions.
Ideally, teachers can increase student engagement by integrating these evidence-based strategies into their practice. However, even with sufficient pedagogical knowledge, a persistent theory-practice gap (Korthagen, 2008) often hinders implementation. Identifying the specific challenges teachers encounter is essential for developing teacher professional development that bridges research and practice.
This study aims to identify the challenges Japanese teachers encounter when implementing strategies to enhance student engagement. The research questions are: (RQ1) Which strategies do teachers perceive as the most challenging to implement? and (RQ2) What specific types of challenges are embedded within each strategy?
To address these objectives, the author facilitated a series of workshops to gather qualitative data. Thirty-six primary and secondary school teachers in Japan participated. During the workshops, a resource detailing 14 strategies for class design and management to enhance student engagement, developed from a prior review by the author (Nakazawa, 2023), was distributed. Participants engaged in group discussions to share their practices, including practical ingenuities, challenges, and concerns. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using both deductive and inductive coding.
For RQ1, the analysis identified “Designing tasks aligned with students’ abilities” (25 segments) as the most challenging strategy, followed by “Stimulating students’ interest” (15 segments). For RQ2, inductive analysis of "Designing tasks aligned with students' abilities" revealed five categories of difficulty: the practical burden of preparing differentiated materials for varying ability levels (10 segments); determining the appropriate level for a diverse cohort (seven segments); providing instructional support for low-achieving students (six segments); accurately assessing student levels based on classroom behavior (one segment); and organizational constraints within the school that limit flexible instruction (one segment). For the strategy "Stimulating students' interest," three primary themes emerged: difficulty aligning instruction with diverse student interests (six segments); managing negative student reactions (seven segments); and subject-specific challenges in eliciting interest (two segments).
These findings suggest that teachers encounter challenges when tailoring instruction to students’ individual situations or needs. Although teachers recognize the value of preparing differentiated materials, the data suggest that the associated workload creates a significant hurdle. For example, one teacher said that “When we conduct the mathematics class based on student proficiency levels, we need to prepare some learning materials. That is, we should design, print out, and stock them. I perceive it as a burden, don’t you?” Ministry of Education in Japan promotes the “personalized and self-regulated learning and collaborative learning (MEXT 2023).” Although this study aimed to reveal the challenges of introducing the strategies into classroom practices, as a result, this study highlights the challenges of implementing “personalized and self-regulated learning and collaborative learning” in Japanese schools.
The challenges identified in this study can contribute to teacher professional development. For example, these challenges can serve as learning resources for teachers, who can discuss how to overcome them.

To address the research objectives, the author facilitated a series of workshops to gather qualitative data through discussion. A total of six workshops were conducted between March and November 2025, with each session comprising five to eight participants. The total sample (N = 36) included eight primary school, eight junior high school, and 20 senior high school teachers in Japan. Participants were recruited through mailing lists and websites dedicated to teacher-oriented events, and screening through a professional survey agency. Additionally, one workshop was integrated into a local teacher training program, with participants recruited via the program host. During the workshops, a resource detailing 14 strategies for class design and management to enhance student engagement, developed from a prior review by the author (Nakazawa, 2023), was distributed. The 14 strategies are organized into three parts: Part 1, “designing learning materials and activities,” including two strategies; Part 2, “communication between teacher and students,” including five strategies; and Part 3, “supporting students and learning activities,” including seven strategies. This resource also provided some tasks for teachers to work on pre- and post-class to support teacher professional development. The procedure included an orientation on student engagement, followed by a reflective task in which participants applied the 14 strategies to their recent teaching practices. Finally, participants engaged in group dialogues to share their practices, including their practical ingenuities, challenges, and concerns. There were 14 groups across a series of workshops, and participants were divided into pairs or trios. The average discussion time per group was 65 minutes. The group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed for qualitative analysis using NVivo software. The analysis followed a two-step hybrid approach of deductive and inductive coding: 1. Deductive coding: First, segments of the transcripts where participants discussed difficulties or concerns were identified as “challenges”. These extracts were then deductively mapped to the 14 strategic categories to identify which strategies posed the most significant hurdles for participants. In cases where a single statement corresponded to multiple strategies, it was coded into each relevant category. 2. Inductive coding: Second, an inductive thematic analysis was performed within each of the 14 categories. The identified challenges were further categorized by content, leading to the emergence of nuanced sub-themes. This study received ethical approval from the Ethics Review Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo.

For RQ1, the analysis identified “Designing tasks aligned with students’ abilities “(25 segments) as the most challenging strategy, followed by “Stimulating students’ interest” (15 segments). For RQ2, the inductive analysis of "Designing tasks aligned with students' abilities" identified five distinct categories of difficulty; the practical burden of preparing differentiated materials for varying ability levels (10 segments); determining the "appropriate level" for a diverse cohort (seven segments); instructional support specifically for low-achieving students (six segments); accurately assessing student levels based on classroom behavior (one segment); organizational constraints within the school that impedes flexible instruction (one segment). Furthermore, for the strategy "Stimulating students' interest," three primary themes emerged: aligning instruction with diverse student interests (six segments); managing negative student reactions (seven segments); and subject-specific hurdles to eliciting interest (two segments). These findings indicate that teachers experience difficulty tailoring instruction to students’ individual situations. Although teachers recognize the value of preparing differentiated materials, the data suggest that the associated workload creates a significant hurdle. For example, one teacher said that “When we conduct the mathematics class based on student proficiency levels, we need to prepare some learning materials. That is, we should design, print out, and stock them. I perceive it as a burden, don’t you?” Ministry of Education in Japan promotes the “personalized and self-regulated learning and collaborative learning (MEXT 2023).” Although this study aimed to reveal the challenges of introducing the strategies into classroom practices, as a result, this study highlights the challenges of implementing “personalized and self-regulated learning and collaborative learning” in Japanese schools. The challenges identified in this study can contribute to teacher professional development. For example, these challenges can serve as learning resources for teachers, who can discuss how to overcome them.

Christenson, S. L., Reschly, A. L., & Wylie, C. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of research on student engagement. Springer US. Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. Korthagen, F. A. J. (2008). The gap between research and practice revisited. Educational Research and Evaluation, 13(3), 303–310. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2023). The fourth basic plan for the promotion of education (Provisional translation). https://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/lawandplan/20240311-ope_dev03-1.pdf Nakazawa, A. (2023). Development of learning materials for teachers to improve student engagement in the classroom [Paper presentation]. The 43rd Annual Conference of Japan Society for Educational Technology, pp. 289–290 (in Japanese). Reeve, J., Ryan, R., Deci, E. L., & Jang, H. (2008). Understanding and promoting autonomous self-regulation: A self-determination theory perspective. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 223–244). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Shernoff, D. J. (2012). Engagement and positive youth development: Creating optimal learning environments. In K. R. Harris, S. Graham, T. Urdan, S. Graham, J. M. Royer, & M. Zeidner. (Eds.), APA educational psychology handbook, Vol. 2: Individual differences and cultural and contextual factors (pp. 195–220). American Psychological Association.