Regulatory mode preferences for autonomy supporting versus controlling instructional styles

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Examined determinants of teacher instructional styles and student satisfaction in educational settings.
• Investigated the relationship between teacher instructional approaches and student perceptions of learning environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if teachers' locomotion and assessment orientations predict autonomy-supportive versus controlling instructional styles.
• To determine if students' regulatory mode orientation fits with the school's learning climate, impacting satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized questionnaires to measure teaching styles, learning climate, satisfaction, and regulatory mode orientations.
• Employed experimental induction of regulatory mode orientations in one study.
• Involved 378 teachers and 190 students across three studies.

Main Results:

• Teachers' autonomy-supportive styles correlated positively with locomotion orientation and negatively with assessment orientation.
• Students with a locomotion orientation reported higher satisfaction in autonomy-supportive climates.
• A fit between student regulatory mode and learning climate predicted higher satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Teacher instructional style preferences are influenced by their regulatory mode orientations.
• Student satisfaction with learning climates depends on the alignment between the climate and the student's regulatory mode.
• Findings highlight the importance of regulatory mode in educational psychology.