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How Can We Improve Teacher's Work Engagement? Based on Chinese Experiences
Danhui Zhang1, Jingwen He1, Dingmeng Fu2
1Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Frontiers in Psychology
|December 13, 2021
Summary
Teachers with greater autonomy support experience higher work engagement through increased psychological need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. This finding highlights the importance of autonomy in the teaching profession.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Organizational Behavior
Background:
- Self-Determination Theory posits that autonomy, competence, and relatedness are crucial for psychological well-being and motivation.
- Work engagement is a critical factor in teacher retention and effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between perceived autonomy support and work engagement among elementary teachers.
- To investigate the mediating roles of basic psychological need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation in this relationship.
Main Methods:
- A quantitative study involving 520 elementary teachers in Beijing.
- Utilized established scales to measure perceived autonomy support, basic psychological need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and work engagement.
Main Results:
- Teachers with less experience and a master's degree reported higher perceived autonomy support.
- Perceived autonomy support positively influenced work engagement, both directly and indirectly through basic psychological need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation.
Conclusions:
- Autonomy support is a significant predictor of teacher work engagement.
- Fostering teachers' basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation is key to enhancing their engagement.
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