Adopting the Situation in School Questionnaire to Examine Physical Education Teachers' Motivating and Demotivating Styles Using a Circumplex Approach

Detrimental Effects of Disempowering Climates on Teaching Intention in (Physical Education) Initial Teacher Education

Previous research has looked at the positive consequences generated by teacher-generated climates on the motivational experiences of pre-service teachers. However, there is scant research focusing on the adverse motivational consequences that affect the perceptions of future teachers during the training process. The objective of this study was to explore the dark side of Duda's multidimensional conceptualization, its influence on academic engagement, and the intention of pre-service teachers to be educators. A total of 1,410 university students in initial teacher training (including physical education pre-service teachers) (59.6% women; 40.3% men; 0.1% other; M_age = 23.85; SD = 5.13) participated. The following scales were used: disempowering motivational climate, frustration of basic psychological needs, academic motivation, academic engagement, and the intention to choose teaching. The results of the structural equation model with latent variables show the positive prediction of the disempowering climate on the dark side and its negative influence on the intention to be a teacher. Controlled motivation preceded by academic engagement significantly mediates the relationship between a disempowering climate and the intention to be a teacher, increasing the total effect on the latter variable. Therefore, this research highlights for both teachers and researchers the impact of a disempowering motivational style, as well as its influence on the dark side as a negative promoter in trainee teachers regarding their intention to become teachers.

Towards the Effective Motivation: The Main Results of DoIT3 Study and Recommendations

The Circumplex perspective on (de)motivating teaching styles based on Self-determination theory is presented in this paper. Based on the findings of the research project “Towards the effective teaching: the evaluation of (de)motivating teaching strategies and their effects on students’ using Circumplex model” (funded by the Research Council of Lithuania under the National Research Programme Welfare Society, Grant No. S-GEV-21-2) recommendations on how to nourish students’ motivational resources and well-being are provided for professionals working in education.

Students’ motivation in biology lessons—can student autonomy reduce the gender gap?

When it comes to biology lessons in Germany, girls generally exhibit higher levels of self-determined motivation than boys. Previous research suggests that fostering student autonomy could be a way to effectively address this gender gap. To investigate gender-related effects in biology education, a sample of 303 sixth-grade students (Mage = 11.31 years, SDage = 0.58 years) participated in a 3-h teaching unit on harvest mice that was taught in either an autonomy-supportive or controlling manner. The results revealed a significant effect of the treatment on self-determined motivation, with the effect being stronger for the boys. In the treatment with controlling teaching behavior, gender-related differences in self-determined motivation became apparent. In contrast, the gender gap was mainly smaller in the treatment with autonomy-supportive teaching behavior. Thus, the results suggest that satisfying the need for autonomy appears to be an effective means to help bridge the gender gap in biology lessons.

Development and initial validation of a scale for the situational recognition of the basic psychological needs

Centered on the Basic Psychological Needs Theory, recent theoretical underpinnings were used and initial empirical processes were initiated to conceptualize, develop and validate a new questionnaire about how teachers shape instructional goals. In a first exploratory study, 188 university graduates and 211 in-service teachers from both the general and special education domains were recruited to recognize the basic psychological needs of an adolescent with physical and mild cognitive disability presented in a short video vignette. In the second confirmatory study, the sample consisted of 239 in-service teachers. According to the results, the new instrument demonstrated acceptable psychometric qualities. For instance, the goodness-of-fit indices CFI and NNFI were both good (1.00) in the confirmatory factor analysis. In both studies, the recognition of the basic psychological needs was involved in a series of statistically significant correlations with participants’ intrinsic life goals (R ≥ .34), state empathy (R ≥ .38) and intrinsic instructional goals (R ≥ .51). This preliminary research suggested that participants integrated the new concept in their intrinsic motivational style. Overall, the results highlight the importance of recognizing the basic psychological needs by including this construct both in research and practice.