2.2 Teacher support
2.2.1 Teacher Autonomy support
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2.2.1 Teacher Autonomy support
Autonomy support has been proven to be one of the effective teaching attitude and technique in promoting students’ engagement and motivation (Chirkov & Ryan, 2001). Research has identified autonomy supportive and controlling teaching behaviors such as the study by Reeve and Jang (2006). They investigated teaching behaviors by conducting “ Problems in Schools ” questionnaire to assess how teachers conduct instruction in the classroom. They conclude autonomy support teaching behaviors are as follows: (1) provide time-spent listening, (2) time spent holding instructional materials, (3)frequency of directives, (4) frequency of questions about what the student wants, (5) frequency of contingent responses to the students’
questions, (6) number of perspective-taking empathetic statements, (7) extent of support for intrinsic motivation, and (8) extent of support for internalization (provides rationale, promotes value of education ). On the contrary, controlling teaching behaviors include suppressing criticism, intruding, forcing un-meaningful acts, which are correlated with negative feelings. Taken together, autonomy support teaching behaviors comprise some critical components: providing choices, showing respect, fostering relevance (Reeve et al., 1999 ; Assor, et al., 2002 ; Skinner & Belmont, 1993).
Providing choice
One important autonomy support behaviors is providing choice. Teachers might provide various choices such as topics to study, reading materials, methods of assessment, activities, social arrangements, and procedural choices. Choice can enhance the sense of control and volition during learning tasks and lead to positive feelings (Schraw, Flowerday, & Reisetter, 1998 ; Flowerday & Schraw, 2000).
However, choice may not be effective in facilitating cognitive engagement (Assor, et
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al., 2002 ; Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, & Turner, 2004). Choice is motivating when connecting with their psychological needs (autonomy, relatedness, and competence), and interests (Katz & Assor, 2007). Offering trivial or ill-connected choices may lead to ineffective outcomes such as too much time spending on discussion or increasing too much cognitive load. Giving choices that are relevant to their academic goals and learning methods can efficiently keep learners in their learning tack (Blumenfeld et al., 1991 ; Stefanou, et al., 2004).
Foster Relevance
Foster relevance means teachers provide meaningfulness, values, relations between learning materials and student interests. Students might usually ask “why I need to study this subject?” Valuing learning tasks is important in shaping positive attitude toward learning. Empirical research, Assor et al., (2002) clarified autonomy enhancing and suppressing behaviors from 3rd to 8th graders and yielded three autonomy enhancing behaviors : foster relevance, allowing criticism, and providing choice. Foster relevance can predict behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and positive feelings. However, providing choice can only predict positive feelings.
Therefore, providing rational for learning is of great importance to create their positive feelings and engagement.
Foster relevance can be made by continuous dialogue with students, sharing the meaningful of the learning material, and also providing authentic experience to help them value their learning (Flum & Kaplan, 2006 ; Brophy, 2008). Brophy applied the concept of ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) to motivation when teachers use various instructional methods to scaffold student motivation and help students value their learning. According to different levels of motivation among students, teachers apply different levels of instruction to scaffold their motivation.
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Showing respect
Showing respect means that the classroom climate is safe to share opinions, collaborate, and work together in a healthy classroom process. The central ideas of self-determination are to provide context with security, respect, and caring that can help students explore and feel free to make mistakes (Flum & Kaplan, 2006). In addition, listening to students’ ideas, and opinions can be advantageous in both creating positive teacher-student relationship and deep learning outcomes. Ryan and Patrick (2001) found that mutual respect in the elementary math classroom can predict adaptive behaviors and self-regulated learning. Based on the benefits of leaner-centered instruction and self-determination theory, teachers should listen to students’ ideas, opinions, and explanations in order to shape a safe learning climate (Ryan & Patrick, 2001; Cornelius-White, 2007).
Teacher role in autonomy support context
Teachers play a critical role in shaping students’ learning experience. However, teachers may conduct different autonomy-supportive or controlling behaviors. One reason is that teachers receive pressure from the school administrations and parents (Pelletier, Seguin-Levesque, & Legault, 2002 ; Cai, Reeve, & Robinson, 2002). In addition, teacher individual characteristics such as resilience and adaptive motivation also affect their teaching behaviors and student learning outcomes (Skinner & Belmont, 1993 ; Roth, Assor, Maymon-Kanat, 2007 ; Klusmann, Kunter, Trautwein, Luedtke, & Baumert, 2008). Since autonomy support has become an effective philosophy of education, training teachers to be autonomy-supportive has been shown to be helpful for teachers and students. Non-controlled autonomy support instruction for teachers is teachable and can also produce beneficial outcomes (Reeve, Jang, Carrell, Jeon, & Barch, 2004).
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Perceived autonomy support and learning outcomes
Student perceived autonomy support predicts autonomous motivation from elementary students to college students (Garcia & Pintrich, 1996 ; Handre & Reeve, 2003 ; Roth, et al., 2007 ; Shih, 2008). Moreover, perceived autonomy support can predict adaptive learning outcomes such as interest experience (Tsai, Kunter, Luedtke, Trautwein, & Ryan, 2008), school performance (Hardre & Reeve, 2003), and positive and behavior engagement (Assor, et al., 2002 ; Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2006). Much research has been done regarding the autonomy support teaching. Hardre probed high school students who perceived more autonomy support from teachers tended to be more autonomous, perceived higher competence, and produced more positive outcomes such as school performance and intention to persist learning. Roth et al.
investigated Israeli elementary school students and showed that teachers’ autonomous motivation for teaching was positively correlated with their autonomy supportive teaching and student autonomous motivation. Tsai et al. investigated college learners in Germany finding that autonomy supportive climate and cognitive support can predict interest experience in three subjects: math, German, and foreign language.
They found that cognitive autonomy support and autonomy supportive climate but not controlling behaviors could predict student interest experience
Based on self-determination theory and empirical studies, the prediction can be made that teacher autonomy support can both fulfill the needs of autonomy and promote engagement as well as self-regulated motivation.
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Autonomy support classroom in Taiwan
Chinese students are more passive and are afraid to make errors. Whether self-determination can apply into Chinese culture needs further study. One study found cultural differences among Asian American students and Caucasian American students. Lepper et al. (2005) found intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation decreased significantly across third to eighth graders. Cultural differences exist between Asian and Caucasian American students. Asian American students tend to have more extrinsic motivation than Caucasian American students. Overall, the effect of autonomy support can also be adopted in Chinese culture. Shih (2008) found that Taiwanese junior high school students and their perceived autonomy support could predict intrinsic motivation, identified motivation, and introjected regulation, but not external regulation. She also found that perceived autonomy predicted behavioral engagement. In addition, d’Ailly (2003) studied Taiwanese elementary school students and found that their perceived teacher autonomy support could predict self-determined motivation, which in turn had no effect on achievement.