Self-Determination Theory-Based Intervention to Help Teachers Promote a Prosocial Classroom Climate

• In Event: 67.047 - Motivation Interventions Proven to Work in K–12 Classrooms: Improving Students' Value, Confidence, Self-Regulation, and Satisfaction

Abstract

Objective
Prosocial behavior is action taken to benefit others (e.g., helping, sharing), while antisocial behavior is action taken to harm others (e.g., hitting, intimidating) (Bergin, 2018). Our objective was to help teachers learn how to create a more prosocial (and less antisocial) classroom climate through their participation in a theory-based, carefully-designed, teacher-focused, and semester-long autonomy-supportive intervention program (ASIP).

Theoretical Framework
ASIPs are based in self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017), which proposes that all students possess three psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) which, when supported, catalyze students’ adaptive personal and social functioning but, when thwarted, lead to maladaptive personal and social functioning. We predicted that teacher participation in the ASIP (experimental group), relative to teacher non-participation (control group), would significantly increase students’ post-intervention (T2, T3, and T4) need satisfaction, peer supportive climate, and prosocial behavior, and significantly decrease students’ T2, T3, and T4 need frustration, peer conflictual climate, and antisocial behavior. We further tested a hypothesized mediation model, as explained in the Results and as shown in Figure 1.

Method
Participants were 42 full-time certified, secondary-grade PE teachers (32 males, 10 females) and their 1,429 students (52.2% female). We randomly assigned teachers into either the experimental (ASIP intervention; n = 20) or control (no intervention; n = 22) condition. In the experimental condition, teachers completed a 3-part intervention to learn how to become more autonomy supportive and less controlling toward their students.

Data Source
Students’ data were collected in four waves across a full school year. Students completed the (1) Perceived Autonomy (Standage, Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2006), Perceived Competence (McAuley, Duncan, & Tammen, 1989), and Perceived Relatedness (Ng, Lonsdale, & Hodge, 2011) scales to assess need satisfaction; (2) the Psychological Need Thwarting Scale (Bartholomew et al., 2011) to assess need frustration; (3) the Peer Motivational Climate in Youth Sport Questionnaire (Ntoumanis & Vazou, 2005) to assess the two peer climates; and (4) the Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Sport Scale (Kavussanu & Boardley, 2009).

Results
According to multilevel analyses (nested data, multiple imputation), students of teachers who completed the intervention showed significantly greater T2, T3, and T4 need satisfaction, peer task-involving climate, and prosocial behavior and significantly lesser T2, T3, and T4 need frustration, peer ego-involving climate, and antisocial behavior. Multilevel latent variable structural equation modeling (LISREL 9.30) showed that the hypothesized model fit the data reasonably well, X2 (2,924) = 9,453.37, p < .001, RMSEA = .040 (.039-.041), CFI = .987, NNFI = .985. As shown in Figure 1, intervention-enabled gains in T2 peer task-involving climate (but not need satisfaction) longitudinally increased T3 and T4 prosocial behavior, while intervention-enabled decreases in T2 peer ego-involving climate (but not T2 need frustration) longitudinally decreased T3 and T4 antisocial behavior.

Significance
The results establish two new findings—namely, autonomy-supportive teaching is a precursor to the establishment of a supportive (i.e., task-involving) peer climate and, once established, it brings important implications in terms of greater prosocial and lesser antisocial behavior.

Authors

• Johnmarshall Reeve, Australian Catholic University

• Sung Hyeon Cheon, Korea University