How Motivation Shapes Teaching Style During Teacher Education

• In Event: 46.062 - Why Teacher Motivation Matters: Implications for Instructional Practice, Professional Engagement, and Well-Being

Abstract

Recently, teacher motivation has been increasingly studied to understand why people decide to become teachers and how the motivations behind this decision affect their professional commitment (Watt & Richardson, 2007). Yet, teacher motivation matters not only in terms of career choice, but also for the quality of teaching (Richardson et al., 2014), reflected in one’s teaching style. While research has uncovered connections between teacher motivation and students’ report of instructional practices (Butler & Shibaz, 2008), little is known about how motivation shapes teaching styles during teacher education.

Using a longitudinal design, this study aimed to 1) describe how teachers changed their classroom management styles over one year of teacher education, and 2) examine whether teacher motivation affected changes in teaching styles, taking into account prior teaching experience, type of subject (theoretical vs practical) and perception of the amount of classroom management-related content in the program.

Grounded in the expectancy-value theory (EV; Eccles et al., 1983), teacher motivation included self-efficacy, value, and cost (time and effort required, other lost opportunities), each in relation to classroom management. Based on Reeve et al.’s (2004) conceptualization, classroom management styles were fourfold: autonomy-support, control, structure and chaos.

The participants were 102 vocational teachers in their first year of teacher education (39 teaching practical subjects and 63 teaching theoretical subjects). Mean teaching experience prior to entering education was 5 years . At the start of teacher education (t1), and again nine months later (t2), participants completed a survey including EV items (Table 1), and a vignette instrument based on the Problem in School Questionnaire (Deci, Schwartz, Sheinman, & Ryan, 1981). In addition, teachers reported their teaching experience prior to teacher education, and how much they perceived that teacher education included classroom management-related content.

Structural equation modeling tested for latent mean differences in teaching styles between t1 and t2, and the effect of t1 motivation on teaching style at t2, controlling for t1 level. Results indicated that teachers significantly and strongly reduced their controlling style (Table 1). Over time, perceived cost of classroom management explained variance in autonomy-supportive and controlling styles at t2, controlling for t1 levels: A higher perceived cost (recognising classroom management as demanding) at t1 increased adherence to autonomy-support, and conversely decreased the tendency to be controlling (Figure 1). The effects of cost were supplemented by effects of teaching experience: The more experience, the more teachers increased their autonomy-support and decreased their control. Structure and chaos styles at t2 were found to be independent from teacher motivation at t1. Notable effects from the type of subject were found: Teachers of theoretical subjects increased their adherence to chaos and reduced their adherence to structure, more than teacher of practical subjects. Prior teaching experience played a role in reducing chaos over time.

This study revealed that perceived cost of classroom management plays a major role in explaining how and to which extent teaching style is shaped during teacher education. It is one of the first contributions to examine the impact of teacher motivation during teacher education.

Authors

• Jean-Louis Berger, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

• Celine Girardet, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

• Cynthia Vaudroz, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

• Carmela Aprea, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training