The essential role of the teacher-student relationship in students' need satisfaction during adolescence

A process-oriented perspective on pre-service teachers' self-efficacy and their motivational messages: Using large language models to classify teachers' speech

BACKGROUND

Recent studies have examined the relation between teacher motivation, motivational messages and student learning but are limited to an achievement-related context, primarily using survey data. Moreover, our understanding of the relation between various teacher characteristics, such as teacher self-efficacy (TSE), and their motivational message use remains limited.

AIMS

Our study tested whether teacher speech can be classified into self-determination (SDT)-based motivational messages and reliably assessed with a large language model (LLM). Additionally, we analysed the relation between pre-service TSE and their motivational message use.

SAMPLE

For our first aim, we used human-rater annotations from 119 pre-service teachers' classroom recordings. For our second aim, we used data from 103 pre-service teachers (52.69% female; Mage = 22.98, SDage = 3.26, Minage = 19, Maxage = 34) who participated in a survey and were video-recorded while teaching.

METHODS

First, we manually classified pre-service teachers' motivational messages based on transcripts and used human-rater annotations to fine-tune an LLM. Second, we analysed the relation between pre-service TSE and motivational message use.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The fine-tuned LLM demonstrated promising performance in assessing SDT-based motivational messages but needs further refining to assess thwarting messages. The analysis with human annotation showed that pre-service TSE for classroom management positively affected the frequency of relatedness-supportive messages. Pre-service TSE for student engagement increased the likelihood of never using a competence- or relatedness-thwarting message. Pre-service TSE for instructional strategies reduced the frequency of autonomy-supportive messages. LLM-based analyses showed slightly different results but did not contradict human annotation-based analyses.

Breaking the Cycle: Perceived Control and Teacher-Student Relationships Shield Adolescents from Bullying Victimization over Time

BACKGROUND

Bullying victimization remains a grave issue in early adolescence. However, existing research often lacks a longitudinal perspective and sufficient attention to protective factors, particularly the dynamic role of teacher-student relationships.

OBJECTIVE

This study explores the longitudinal protective mechanisms against bullying victimization, focusing on the roles of perceived control and teacher-student relationships.

METHODS

A sample of 1454 adolescents (mean age = 13.63 years, SD = 0.76, 51% female) was followed over the course of one year. Latent growth models were employed to examine the developmental trajectories of bullying victimization, perceived control, and teacher-student relationships, and to investigate the longitudinal mediating role of teacher-student relationships in the relationship between perceived control and bullying victimization.

RESULTS

Both perceived control and teacher-student relationships showed a consistent increase over time, while bullying victimization declined over time. The intercept of perceived control negatively predicted the intercept of bullying victimization, with this relationship mediated by the intercept of teacher-student relationships. Furthermore, the slope of perceived control affected the slope of bullying victimization solely through the slope of teacher-student relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight that perceived control serves as a stable protective factor against bullying, while strong teacher-student relationships can further reduce bullying victimization. Enhancing students' perceived control and fostering supportive teacher-student relationships should be key components of anti-bullying interventions.

Psychometric properties of the SocioEmotional Skills Instrument for Teachers using network approach: English and Spanish version

The importance of socioemotional teaching skills has been highlighted for its link with better academic, social, emotional, and behavioral results of students, as well as for its contribution to the work wellbeing, mental health, and prosperity of teachers. However, there are few instruments that measure these skills in teachers in the context of their professional practice. The purpose of this research was to analyze the psychometric properties of the socioemotional Skills Instrument for Teachers (SEMS-IT). An instrumental design and a sample of 853 Chilean secondary school teachers were used. To evaluate the dimensional structure of the instrument, a portion of the sample (n = 468) underwent a network estimation method with exploratory graph analysis (EGA) using a Gaussian GLASSO model. Then, in order to confirm the structural consistency and stability of the items, the analysis was replicated in a second sample (n = 385), where these results were additionally contrasted with those of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EGA findings confirmed a structure of four dimensions and 19 items in total: (a) cognitive management of teacher emotion (four items), (b) teacher empathic concern (four items), (c) teacher-student relationship (four items), and (d) adverse classroom climate (seven items), with a 7-point Likert scale response format. The CFA showed good and acceptable fit indicators, X2 (171) = 354.546 (p < 0.001), Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.971, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.966, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.061, and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.062. In conclusion, a tool for the assessment of teachers' socioemotional skills, valid for school-based educational research, is provided. Implications of the findings at the theoretical and practical levels are discussed, as well as limitations and future projections for future research.

Linking teacher support to achievement emotion profile: the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction

The current study used a person-centered approach to explore the co-occurrence of college students' achievement emotions. It also examined the impact of teacher support on achievement emotion profiles and the mediating effect of need satisfaction. A total of 866 college students participated in the survey. A robust three-step latent profile analysis was employed to analyze the data. Four profiles of achievement emotions were identified: moderate mixed emotions, the blends of high positive emotions, the blends of moderate positive emotions, and high mixed emotions. Higher perceived teacher support was associated with a greater likelihood of being classified into the blends of moderate positive emotion profile or the blends of high positive emotion profile. Moreover, basic psychological need satisfaction mediated the relationship between teacher support and the four emotion profiles. Our findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of teacher support in shaping achievement emotion profiles, helping to broaden the application of self-determination theory to explain the mechanism by which external support influences emotion profiles.

Preschool Teachers' Emotional Competence and Teacher Self-Efficacy towards Preschool Performance in Zhejiang Province of China

This study investigates the interplay between emotional competence, self-efficacy, and teaching experience in determining preschool teachers' performance. Drawing on Bandura's Theory of Self-Efficacy, Goleman's Emotional Intelligence Theory, and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, the research employs a quantitative approach, analyzing responses from preschool teachers in Zhejiang province, China. Key findings reveal that emotional competence significantly predicts teachers' performance and self-efficacy, with self-efficacy further mediating this relationship. Interestingly, while teaching experience moderates the impact of emotional competence on self-efficacy, it does not significantly influence the relationship between self-efficacy and teaching performance. The study underscores the critical role of emotional competence in teaching efficacy and highlights the complexity of how teaching experience interacts with these dynamics. These insights are crucial for developing targeted interventions in teacher training programs, emphasizing emotional skills and self-belief as key drivers of effective teaching in early-childhood education.

Facilitating Youth's Curiosity in Learning: Needs-based Ecological Examinations

The decline of curiosity during adolescence has received increasing concerns in education. The present study aimed to identify the key factors in the environment that promote young people's curiosity from a needs-based ecological perspective, focusing on family and school. To enable a better understanding of the developmental effects, this study compared two age groups: 10-year-olds and 15-year-olds. A total of 5482 Finnish students (3034 aged 10 and 2448 aged 15; 48% female and 51% male) from the OECD Survey on Social-emotional Skills participated in the study, and their family and school factors related to basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) were assessed through surveys. Hierarchical Linear Modeling results revealed that: (1) contrary to the expectations, factors that support competence and relatedness facilitated youth curiosity to a greater extent than factors that support autonomy; (2) positive relationships with teachers were more beneficial for curiosity among older youth than younger youth; whereas, a sense of belonging at school was the most important factor for younger youth's curiosity. These findings have significant implications for promoting curiosity in general as well as during different age periods.

The association among teacher-student relationship, subjective well-being, and academic achievement: Evidence from Chinese fourth graders and eighth graders

This study compared the teacher-student relationship, subjective well-being, and academic achievement between fourth graders and eighth graders, and examined whether and how subjective well-being played a mediating role concerning teacher-student relationship and academic achievement across the two grades. The participants included 19,845 fourth graders and 11,691 eighth graders from a city in central China. The findings indicated that (1) compared with eighth graders, fourth graders reported significantly higher mean scores in the teacher-student relationship, subjective well-being, and academic achievements; (2) a positive teacher-student relationship can promote students' academic achievement both directly and indirectly through subjective well-being across the two groups; (3) The mediating effect of subjective well-being accounted for 42.8% of the total effects between teacher-student relationship and academic achievement for fourth graders, which was higher than that for eighth graders (22.7%). Limitations and future directions are elaborated.

Students' Inattention Symptoms and Psychological Need Satisfaction During the Secondary School Transition: The Protective Role of Teachers' Involvement

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the prospective relationship from student inattention symptoms to changes in their psychological need satisfaction (PNS) during their transition to secondary school. In doing so, it has explored whether this temporal association was moderated by teachers' involvement (TI).

METHOD

A sample of 688 students (46% male; M_age = 11.82) followed in Grade 6 and Secondary 1 was selected from a stratified random list.

RESULTS

Inattention symptoms predicted a decrease in autonomy and competence need satisfaction, after adjusting for gender, anxiety, aggression, and PNS at baseline. In addition, TI in Secondary 1 attenuated the association between inattention and autonomy need satisfaction decline. TI also predicted a smaller decrease in competence need satisfaction, over and above the contribution of inattention.

CONCLUSIONS

Results support the importance of TI in PNS of students who are struggling with inattention throughout a critical transition. Implications for educational practices and research are discussed.

Longitudinal Associations between Teacher-Student Relationships and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Basic Need Satisfaction

The quality of teacher-student relationships has been shown to relate to adolescents' prosocial behavior, but the motivational mechanisms underlying this association remained unclear. Based on relationships motivation theory (RMT), we examined whether the associations between teacher-student relationships (closeness and conflict) and prosocial behavior are bidirectional, and the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfaction) in these links. Data were collected from a sample of 438 secondary school students who completed a survey at two-time points over eight months. The cross-lagged autoregressive model revealed that the relation between close teacher-student relationship and prosocial behavior was bidirectional over time. Moreover, relatedness need satisfaction mediated the positive effect of close teacher-student relationship and the negative effect of teacher-student relationship conflict on adolescents' prosocial behavior. This study highlights the importance of close teacher-student relationship and relatedness need satisfaction to foster adolescents' prosocial behavior.

What makes a student feel vital? Links between teacher-student relatedness and teachers’ engaging messages

Recent studies suggest that teacher messages can affect students’ well-being. Using a multilevel, variable, and person-centred approach, this study aimed to identify profiles of students according to their teachers’ use of engaging messages and analyse the relation among these profiles and teacher-student relatedness and students’ subjective vitality. A total of 1209 students participated in the study. At the student-level, profile analysis indicated the existence of four different profiles: the few messages profile, the autonomous motivational appeals profile, the loss-framed messages profile, and the gain-framed messages profile. At the teacher level, profile analysis indicated the existence of two profiles: the variant and the invariant profiles. Results showed that overall, at both levels of analysis, teachers’ engaging messages related with teacher-student relatedness (either positively or negatively) with clear differences among profiles. Moreover, also at both levels of analysis, teacher-student relatedness related with students’ subjective vitality. Main findings and implications for practice are discussed.

Cooperation enhances motor learning

Relatedness represents the need to experience satisfaction from interpersonal acceptance and closeness with others and is considered a basic psychological human need. Studies testing the effects of supporting the learners' need for relatedness in motor learning (e.g., Gonzalez & Chiviacowsky, 2018) have manipulated relatedness basically by instructions from the experimenter and using practice and learning at an individual level. A different form of supporting the need for relatedness is through cooperative learning. In different domains, contexts involving cooperative effort strategies and goals were observed to result in greater positive interpersonal relationship and higher goal achievement in relation to individual efforts or competitive conditions. In this experiment, the effects of practice structured in cooperative or competitive ways on the learning of hitting a ball with a racket toward a target was tested. Adolescents practiced in pairs and were assigned to three experimental groups. In the cooperation group, the participants practiced in a cooperative condition while in the competitive group, the participants practiced in a competitive condition. Participants in a control group also practiced in the presence of another participant but were not induced at cooperative or competitive conditions. In the next day all groups performed retention and transfer tests. Questionnaires measured the participants' motivational and affective levels. The results show that cooperation increases intrinsic motivation, positive affect, self-efficacy, and task learning relative to individual efforts or competitive practice. Competition decreases perceived relatedness. The findings add to a growing body of evidence showing the importance of social relatedness for motor performance and learning. They also indicate a positive influential role of cooperation in motor learning.

Fostering Students' Autonomy and Engagement in EFL Classroom Through Proximal Classroom Factors: Autonomy-Supportive Behaviors and Student-Teacher Relationships

Language learning achievement depends on student engagement which is at the center of attention these days. To assist students to become autonomous and independent learners, providing a social and supportive context is beneficial through autonomy-supportive and interaction. When learners are given the freedom to make choices about their education, they are likely to feel more enthusiastic and engaged. Moreover, learners' academic and social practices are largely influenced by educators, who play a major role as social agents and the function of the educators as the most dominant figures is the cornerstone of the language classroom. As there is a dearth of studies that have considered teachers and student interactions among all other effective issues and their significant effect on students' autonomy and engagement from the perspective of self-determination theory (autonomy support), the present review endeavors to focus on teacher-student interaction from the social perspective and their effects on student engagement in EFL classrooms. Subsequently, some implications are presented to elucidate the practice of teachers, students, teacher educators, materials developers.

Fostering EFL/ESL Students' State Motivation: The Role of Teacher-Student Rapport

It is maintained that one of the significant determining issues of success is motivation, and enhancing EFL/ESL students' motivation is dominant in cultivating their learning in the classroom. Moreover, teachers are reflected as the most noteworthy figure of any scholastic organization and the positive rapport between students and teachers is significant for learners' state motivation. In line with the investigations of teacher-student rapport, principles from positive psychology (PP), and motivational theories such as self-determination and rhetorical/relational goal theory, the present theoretical review seeks this type of relationship and its effects on learners' motivation. Student-teacher rapport results in progressive practices for learners, as well as superior classroom involvement, and motivation. Subsequently, the helpfulness of findings for teachers, learners, materials developers, and teacher trainers are conferred.

Relatedness support enhances motivation, positive affect, and motor learning in adolescents

Social relatedness is a basic psychological need to experience satisfaction of interpersonal acceptance and closeness with others. In this experiment, the effects of social relatedness on the learning of a task (hitting a ball with a racket toward a target) were tested in adolescents. Participants were assigned to three experimental groups. After a pre-test and before practice, participants in the relatedness support (RS) condition received instructions emphasizing recognition, importance, and interest in the participant's experience. Participants in the relatedness frustration (RF) condition received instructions emphasizing disinterest in the participant as a person. Control participants did not receive specific relatedness instructions. One day later, they performed retention and transfer tests. Questionnaires measured participants' motivational and affective levels. The results showed that supporting the relatedness need enhances task learning in adolescents. Motivation and affective levels were also affected. The findings are the first to show that social relatedness affects adolescent's motor performance and learning and reveal underlying mechanisms implicated in such effects.

The Role of Emotional Intelligence, the Teacher-Student Relationship, and Flourishing on Academic Performance in Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Study

Educational context has an important influence on adolescents’ development and well-being, which also affects their academic performance. Previous empirical studies highlight the importance of levels of emotional intelligence for students’ academic performance. Despite several studies having analyzed the association and underlying mechanisms linking emotional intelligence and academic performance, further research, including both personal and contextual dimensions, is necessary to better understand this relation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to deepen the understanding of the effect of emotional intelligence has on academic performance, examining the possible mediating role of flourishing and the moderating role of the teacher-student relationship. A convenience sample of 283 adolescents (49.8% female), aged 12–18 years (M = 14.42, SD = 1.12), participated in a cross-sectional study by completing self-report questionnaires measuring emotional intelligence (Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale), flourishing (Flourishing Scale), and teacher-student relationship (Inventory of Teacher-Student Relationships) and reported their grades of the previous term on four mandatory subjects in the Spanish education curriculum. Results indicated that flourishing completely mediated the path from emotional intelligence to academic performance and that teacher-student relationship was a significant moderator in this model. Thus, in adolescents with worse teacher-student relationship, the association of emotional intelligence and flourishing was stronger than in adolescents with better teacher-student relationship. In turn, flourishing was positively associated with academic performance. These results suggest that it is crucial to foster better teacher-student relationship, especially in adolescents with low emotional intelligence, and to positively impact their well-being and their academic performance.

The Psychometric Properties of the Student-Teacher Relationship Measure for Omani Grade 7-11 Students

Development and validation of a 25-item Student–Teacher Relationship Measure is described. It is a self-report measure estimating students’ perceptions of their relationship with teachers. The study was applied among adolescents in grades 7–11 in Oman. The measure was administered in Arabic. In Study 1, findings from exploratory factor analysis for 1,035 students indicated the presence of a 2-factor model (academic relation and social relation). In study 2, the confirmatory factor analysis results of 1,099 students supported study 1 results. High internal consistency was acquired. STRM was regarded as a reliable and potentially valid measure of the quality of student–teacher relationships.