Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there

Abstract

BackgroundEducational changes often face resistance as lecturers tend to stand by familiar methods of instruction. This reluctance presents a challenge for programme coordinators who wish to introduce other methods, such as flipped classrooms, and seek to motivate lecturers to embrace educational change. Research into lecturers’ motivational strategies during educational change is evident in the setting of adult education but outnumbered by studies on student motivation in the context of higher education.PurposeThis study looks into what leads adult education teachers to integrate flipped classrooms and seeks to cultivate change management principles to facilitate flipped classroom adoption. We integrate change and self-determination theory to draw and test a conceptual model that allows educational change managers to make lecturers feel related to their institution, competent to flip their classroom and autonomous in deciding how to apply flipped instruction.Design and methodsThis study employed a phenomenological design to explore how lecturers experience the impact of change management principles on their relatedness, competence and autonomy when flipping their classrooms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eleven lecturers at three Flemish adult education centres. Qualitative interview data were deductively and inductively analysed, validating the literature-based framework while allowing additional insights to emerge from participants’ experiences.Results and conclusionsOur findings suggest that it would be beneficial to appoint a ‘guiding coalition’ that addresses lecturers’ need for relatedness. This would be a way of acknowledging change efforts and facilitating periodic peer exchanges that eliminate fear of interference in colleagues’ teaching practices. Both the need for customised training materials and emotional support, in case of technical failure, were perceived important in achieving competence. Lecturers’ need for autonomy represents a balancing act between top-down change communication and inviting lecturers to co-decide on the pace and level of flipped classroom adoption. We suggest that lecturers’ instructional practices (i.e. routines) have the potential for propagating flipped instruction from the bottom-up.