The prevalence of autonomy support and control in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland and influential factors

Abstract

Post-primary school teachers face many challenges that lead to their using a variety of autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviours to motivate students to learn. The use of controlling methods that use fear and coercion to motivate, such as shouting, issuing sanctions and adopting an authoritarian role may be effective methods, but the harm they cause to student basic needs and their motivation to learn are cause for concern.

It was hypothesized that post-primary school teachers in Northern Ireland were adopting controlling teacher behaviours to a great extent. Further, that out of all factors that influence teacher style, school teaching climate (the behaviour of other teachers in a school) was the greatest predictor of individual teacher behaviour: that teachers would be more likely to adopt control in a school with a controlling school climate, and autonomy support in an autonomy-supportive school climate. In line with this influence, it was hypothesised that teachers may not be teaching in their preferred style i.e., they may wish to be more/less controlling/autonomy supportive.

Scales created for use within the study were deemed valid and reliable. Survey method yielded responses from 230 Northern Irish post-primary school teachers. Results showed that all teachers in the sample adopted very high autonomy support whilst most used high control. The majority taught in their preferred style with less than one third showing a preference for more autonomy support and less control. Hierarchical multiple regression confirmed that school teaching climate strongly predicted teacher style. Other school and teacher characteristics were found to be non-significant or weak predictors of teacher style apart from age, experience and behaviour.

Considering research showing the harmful impact controlling teacher behaviours have on both student’ and teachers’ motivation, basic needs and mental health; these findings highlight the need for future interventions and training programmes to boost motivation, improve wellbeing, and protect the needs of all.

Date of Award	Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Laura Dunne (Supervisor) & Liam O'Hare (Supervisor)