Supporting pre‐service teachers’ motivation beliefs and approaches to instruction through an online intervention

Abstract

Background Previous research has shown that pre‐service teachers have low responsibility for student motivation and feel underprepared to deal with motivational issues. As an extension, researchers have designed interventions to shift teachers’ beliefs about motivation or equip them with approaches to instruction, but never both. Aims: Following best practices for motivation interventions, we created a one‐session online intervention and tested its efficacy to shift pre‐service teachers’ self‐reported beliefs and approaches to instruction to be more supportive of student motivation. The intervention included priming, materials designed for mindsets and/or for approaches to instruction, a consolidation activity, and take‐home materials. Sample A convenience sample of 384 pre‐service teachers from one Canadian university participated. Methods We embedded an experimental design into multiple sections of a required assessment course. After completing a pre‐test, participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: beliefs‐only, approaches‐only, combined beliefs and approaches, or control. After completing the online module, students received a lecture on assessment practices and motivation. Results The results from our MANCOVA showed that pre‐service teachers who participated in the beliefs‐only condition reported increased levels of responsibility for student motivation, more growth mindset beliefs, and less fixed mindset beliefs than participants in the other conditions. The approaches‐only condition did not influence self‐reported mastery or performance approaches to instruction and the combined condition had no effect on beliefs or approaches. Conclusions We discuss the implications for educating pre‐service teachers about student motivation and suggest that beliefs and approaches to instruction need to be addressed separately.

The Relation Between a Teacher-Based Growth Mindset Training and Minoritized Student Motivation in Mathematics

“…Dweck (2010) argues that a teacher's theory of intelligence influences: how they praise students, the promotion of risk-taking, their presentation of complex activities, the labeling of students, the use of timed assignments, and if they promote challenge versus success. Highly motivating teachers tend to approach instruction by centering their students' participation and effort and prioritizing student wellbeing, positive emotions, collaboration, and building trust between them and their students (Daniels et al, 2021). Wiesman (2012) explained that both students and teachers find intrinsic motivation an important reason why students are motivated in the classroom.…”

“…Evidence shows that many teachers feel ill-prepared to manage student motivation issues (Turner et al, 2011 cited in Daniels et al, 2021). Motivation researchers are clear that there is no single way to approach instruction to guarantee student motivation.…”

“…Motivation researchers are clear that there is no single way to approach instruction to guarantee student motivation. Thus, it may be essential to help teachers understand how their approach to instruction, based on their beliefs, relates to students' motivation beliefs (Daniels et al, 2021). A prominent critique of growth mindset interventions is that they often are implemented in isolation from the students' regular instruction.…”

“…Growth mindset interventions do not usually focus on teachers; however, a construct used to measure autonomy support, a closely related concept to promoting a growth mindset in students, is the Autonomy Support Intervention Program (ASIP). The ASIP is a formal intervention for teachers in the form of professional developments, addressing approaches to instruction that support student autonomy (Daniels et al, 2021). A large body of research demonstrates that students' motivation improves when teachers engage with the ASIP (e.g., Cheon et al, 2016).…”

“…A large body of research demonstrates that students' motivation improves when teachers engage with the ASIP (e.g., Cheon et al, 2016). Daniels et al (2021) addresses a critical gap in the literature by creating an intervention that targets both beliefs and approaches to instruction for pre-service teachers. He found that a brief, targeted, and truthful message can help increase pre-service teachers' responsibility for motivation, at least on an immediate post-test.…”