Are Autonomously Motivated University Instructors More Autonomy-Supportive Teachers?

• Published in: International journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning Vol. 13; no. 2
• Main Authors: Yasué, Maï, Jeno, Lucas, Langdon, Jody
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Teaching & Technology at Georgia Southern University 29.05.2019; Georgia Southern University
• Subjects: Barriers; Class Size; College Administration; College Faculty; Faculty Workload; Foreign Countries; Intrinsic Motivation; Job Satisfaction; Mentors; Mixed-methods; Professional Autonomy; Psychological Needs; Publish or Perish Issue; School Culture; Self-Determination Theory; Teacher Motivation; Teacher Role; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching Conditions; Teaching Methods; Teaching Styles; Tenure; Undergraduate; Undergraduate Students; Value Judgment; Australia; North America; Europe
• ISSN: 1931-4744; 1931-4744
• DOI: 10.20429/ijsotl.2019.130205

We extended the research on autonomy-supportive teaching to universities and examined the relationships between autonomous motivation to teach and autonomy-supportive teaching. Autonomously motivated university instructors were more autonomy-supportive instructors. The freedom to make pedagogical decisions was negatively correlated with external motivation towards teaching. Participants indicated that large class sizes, high teaching loads, publication pressures, and a culture that undervalues effective undergraduate teaching undermined both student learning and their feelings of autonomy. Together these results presents a picture of a subset of university instructors who remained autonomously motivated to teach, irrespective of barriers they experienced from university administrators or policies.