A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles
BackgroundAll teachers aspire to create the most motivating classroom climate for their students. This is because students who are motivated demonstrate superior learning outcomes relative to students who are not motivated. According to the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), when teachers establish an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1127090/full |
| _version_ | 1797776108575260672 |
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| author | Woon Chia Liu Leng Chee Kong Chee Keng John Wang Ying Hwa Kee Betsy Ng Karen Lam Johnmarshall Reeve |
| author_facet | Woon Chia Liu Leng Chee Kong Chee Keng John Wang Ying Hwa Kee Betsy Ng Karen Lam Johnmarshall Reeve |
| author_sort | Woon Chia Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundAll teachers aspire to create the most motivating classroom climate for their students. This is because students who are motivated demonstrate superior learning outcomes relative to students who are not motivated. According to the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), when teachers establish an autonomy-supportive climate in their classrooms, their students can benefit in numerous developmentally and educationally important ways. Whilst most teachers have an understanding that autonomy-supportive teaching can benefit their students, many of them are unwilling or unable to carry out autonomy-supportive strategies. This can be explained by the implicit and explicit forces (e.g., teaching philosophies and beliefs, personal experiences) imposed on them by their internal (namely, intrapsychic) and external (namely, social) environments. This paper focuses on the personal factors that influence teachers’ adoption and employment of autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours.MethodFollowing a 10-week intervention program on implementing six autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours, we interviewed 59 teachers from 17 secondary schools in Singapore on their adoption and employment of the teaching strategies. Their number of years of teaching experience ranged from 1 to 31 years with a mean of 10.8 years of teaching experience, and 62.71% of them were female.FindingFrom the interviews, we identified several teacher-related personal factors which we labelled “teaching philosophies and beliefs,” “personal experiences,” “motivation to teach,” “personality,” “teachers’ mental and emotional states” and “teaching efficacy.” Through identifying the personal factors, we hope to raise awareness amongst the teachers on the inner forces that can foster or frustrate their own expression of autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours. Given the many plausible benefits that can be derived from autonomy-supportive teaching, we hope that the information gained from this qualitative study can path the way for greater willingness and effort in implementing autonomy-supportive teaching in the classrooms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T22:45:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-78c91d81658c45a3a71f0659d7bec85b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T22:45:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-78c91d81658c45a3a71f0659d7bec85b2023-07-21T06:29:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-07-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11270901127090A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating stylesWoon Chia Liu0Leng Chee Kong1Chee Keng John Wang2Ying Hwa Kee3Betsy Ng4Karen Lam5Johnmarshall Reeve6National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeNational Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeNational Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeNational Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeNational Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeCurriculum Policy Office, Ministry of Education, Singapore, SingaporeInstitute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, VIC, AustraliaBackgroundAll teachers aspire to create the most motivating classroom climate for their students. This is because students who are motivated demonstrate superior learning outcomes relative to students who are not motivated. According to the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), when teachers establish an autonomy-supportive climate in their classrooms, their students can benefit in numerous developmentally and educationally important ways. Whilst most teachers have an understanding that autonomy-supportive teaching can benefit their students, many of them are unwilling or unable to carry out autonomy-supportive strategies. This can be explained by the implicit and explicit forces (e.g., teaching philosophies and beliefs, personal experiences) imposed on them by their internal (namely, intrapsychic) and external (namely, social) environments. This paper focuses on the personal factors that influence teachers’ adoption and employment of autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours.MethodFollowing a 10-week intervention program on implementing six autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours, we interviewed 59 teachers from 17 secondary schools in Singapore on their adoption and employment of the teaching strategies. Their number of years of teaching experience ranged from 1 to 31 years with a mean of 10.8 years of teaching experience, and 62.71% of them were female.FindingFrom the interviews, we identified several teacher-related personal factors which we labelled “teaching philosophies and beliefs,” “personal experiences,” “motivation to teach,” “personality,” “teachers’ mental and emotional states” and “teaching efficacy.” Through identifying the personal factors, we hope to raise awareness amongst the teachers on the inner forces that can foster or frustrate their own expression of autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours. Given the many plausible benefits that can be derived from autonomy-supportive teaching, we hope that the information gained from this qualitative study can path the way for greater willingness and effort in implementing autonomy-supportive teaching in the classrooms.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1127090/fullself-determination theorymotivating stylesautonomy-supportive motivating stylecontrolling motivating stylepersonal factorsmathematics and science teachers |
| spellingShingle | Woon Chia Liu Leng Chee Kong Chee Keng John Wang Ying Hwa Kee Betsy Ng Karen Lam Johnmarshall Reeve A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles Frontiers in Psychology self-determination theory motivating styles autonomy-supportive motivating style controlling motivating style personal factors mathematics and science teachers |
| title | A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles |
| title_full | A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles |
| title_fullStr | A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles |
| title_full_unstemmed | A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles |
| title_short | A qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers’ motivating styles |
| title_sort | qualitative study into the personal factors influencing secondary school teachers motivating styles |
| topic | self-determination theory motivating styles autonomy-supportive motivating style controlling motivating style personal factors mathematics and science teachers |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1127090/full |
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