Pathways to need-supportive instruction

Abstract

How learners and teachers respond to academic challenges is essential for attaining desired achievement outcomes. When faced with challenges, some show perseverance, while others give up easily. Two essential mechanisms underlying these differences are mindset beliefs (growth or fixed) and types of motivation (well-internalized or poorly internalized). However, little is known about how mindsets relate to different types of motivation, and even less about how educators' teaching mindsets and motivation contribute to need-supportive instruction. Two separate yet complementary studies were conducted to address these research gaps. Study 1 meta-analytically reviewed 45 studies with 112 effect sizes on the relationships between mindset beliefs and different types of motivation, revealing medium effect sizes for the relationships between growth mindset and well-internalized motivation types. These findings suggest that those with a growth mindset are more likely to have autonomous motivation which helps them handle challenges better. Based on this evidence, Study 2 examined to what extent English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors' (N = 348) teaching mindsets and quality of teaching motivation matter for their need-supportive instruction. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results showed that fixed teaching mindset beliefs directly and negatively predicted autonomy-supportive teaching. Furthermore, fixed teaching mindset beliefs negatively predicted competence-supportive teaching through the external regulation of teaching motivation. Additionally, intrinsic regulation of teaching motivation mediated the relationships between fixed teaching mindset beliefs and both competence-supportive and relatedness-supportive teaching styles. These findings highlight the importance of promoting a growth mindset and intrinsic motivation among educators to create need-supportive learning environments.