Teacher Trust in Colleagues and Basic Psychological Needs: A Two-Wave Cross-Lagged Study

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Teacher motivation is significantly influenced by the social climate within schools.
• Self-determination theory posits that satisfaction of basic psychological needs (relatedness, competence, autonomy) is crucial for intrinsic motivation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To longitudinally examine the relationship between teacher trust in colleagues and the satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs.
• To understand how trust influences vocational teachers' motivation over time.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study design.
• Structural equation modeling analysis.
• Survey data collected from 666 Canadian vocational teachers.

Main Results:

• Teacher trust in colleagues at T1 positively predicted the satisfaction of relatedness, competence, and autonomy needs at T2.
• Teacher trust in colleagues at T1 negatively predicted the frustration of relatedness, competence, and autonomy needs at T2.

Conclusions:

• Trust among colleagues is a significant factor in fostering teacher motivation.
• Cultivating relational trust can enhance teachers' motivational resources and contribute to quality work motivation.
• School principals should focus on building trust to improve teacher motivation.