Reconstructing Learning Agency of Underachieving Students Through Classroom “Micro-Successes”: A Qualitative Study of Grade 7 English Instruction in Hebei, China

Abstract

This study investigates how “micro-success” strategies—small, structured, and attainable learning wins— reconstruct the learning agency of underachieving students in junior high school English classrooms in China. Grounded in positive psychology and social cognitive theory (Dweck, 2006; Dweck & Yeager, 2019), we conducted an interpretivist, qualitative inquiry using semi-structured interviews with 12 Grade-7 English teachers at a public junior high school in Hebei. Thematic analysis identified four interrelated themes: (1) cognitive conflict resolution via micro-success, (2) teacher decision-making in task stratification and feedback, (3) reconstruction of learner subjectivity (self-efficacy, voice, and ownership), and (4) maintenance of motivation through adaptive goals and attributional feedback. Findings show that micro-success reframes repeated failure experiences into incremental competence signals that help students transition from “I can’t” to “I can try,” with teachers’ feedback language and task design acting as catalysts (Hattie, 2008; Wisniewski, Zierer, & Hattie, 2020). The study proposes a cognition–emotion–behavior framework explaining how classroom micro-successes enable identity-safe participation, strengthen self-efficacy, and support sustained engagement. Practical implications include low-threshold task segmentation, progress-visible feedback, and alignment with China’s “double reduction” policy; methodological contributions highlight teacher-centered qualitative evidence for designing agency-restorative pedagogy.