Effects of a Web-Based Autonomy-Supportive Intervention on Physical Education Teacher Outcomes

Henri Tilga,Vello Hein,Lennart Raudsepp,Hanna Kalajas-Tilga,Andre Koka

doi:10.3390/educsci11070316

Abstract

The current study tested the efficacy of a web-based autonomy-supportive intervention program on changes in physical education (PE) teachers’ self-reports of autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and teaching efficacy for students’ engagement. In this study, 101 secondary school PE teachers and their 652 students were randomized either to a web-based autonomy-supportive experimental group or to the control group. Manipulation checks indicated that the intervention was effective as students perceived the experimental group PE teachers as more autonomy-supportive and less controlling compared to the control group at the one-month follow-up. In the main analysis, results of the path analysis demonstrated direct effects of the intervention on changes in teachers’ self-reported autonomy-supportive behaviour, and on teaching efficacy for students’ engagement. There were also significant direct effects from changes in autonomy-supportive behaviour on changes in psychological need satisfactions, from psychological need satisfaction on intrinsic motivation, and from intrinsic motivation on teaching efficacy for students’ engagement. Finally, the intervention had an indirect effect on changes in teaching efficacy for students’ engagement via changes in teachers’ autonomy-supportive behaviour, psychological need satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation. These findings provided insight on the effects of a web-based autonomy-supportive intervention for PE teachers on several teachers’ outcomes in the context of PE.

Highlights

A vast number of studies have demonstrated that face-to-face autonomy-supportive intervention programs for physical education (PE) teachers are effective in changing their students’ perceptions of their teachers’ behaviour [1,2,3,4]
It was found that after the faceto-face ASIP, the PE teachers themselves gained various benefits such as greater teaching motivation, increased teaching efficacy, and higher teaching well-being [7]. This led us to expect that teachers who participated in a web-based autonomy-supportive intervention program (WB-ASIP) designed to guide them become more autonomy supportive could experience greater psychological need satisfaction, teaching motivation, and teaching efficacy
The present study examined the effectiveness of the WB-ASIP based on the selfdetermination theory [8] in promoting changes in PE teachers’ self-reported autonomysupportive behaviour, psychological needs satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and teaching efficacy for students’ engagement

Summary

Introduction

A vast number of studies have demonstrated that face-to-face autonomy-supportive intervention programs for physical education (PE) teachers are effective in changing their students’ perceptions of their teachers’ behaviour [1,2,3,4]. The current study was designed to test the efficacy of a WB-ASIP on PE teachers’ changes in teaching efficacy for students’ engagement mediated by the variables specified in a motivational sequence of the self-determination theory (SDT) [8] such as changes in PE teachers’ autonomy-supportive behaviour, changes in psychological need satisfaction during teaching, and changes in intrinsic motivation to teach. It was found that after the faceto-face ASIP, the PE teachers themselves gained various benefits such as greater teaching motivation, increased teaching efficacy, and higher teaching well-being [7] This led us to expect that teachers who participated in a WB-ASIP designed to guide them become more autonomy supportive could experience greater psychological need satisfaction, teaching motivation, and teaching efficacy

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion