„The search for effective teaching: Assessing the circular profile and consequences of teacher behaviour that (un)motivates students“, No. S-GEV-21-2

Project No. S-GEV-21-2           
Project title: „The search for effective teaching: Assessing the circular profile and consequences of teacher behaviour that (un)motivates students“
Project duration: from 2021-02-01 to 2022-12-31
Project manager:  doc. dr. Ingrida Gabrialavičiūtė
Project partner: Vilniaus University

Summary: An effective education system that produces creative, civic-minded, critical thinkers is a key factor in a prosperous society. In the modern school system, the role of the teacher in implementing the Good School concept is becoming more complex and requires an increasing variety of didactic and technological competences, which raises the challenge of how to be flexible, inspiring and empowering rather than controlling and oppressive. Self-determination theory (Deci, Ryan, 2000) states that a teacher will be a teacher if he or she creates an educational environment in which students can satisfy basic psychological needs. The theory offers concrete, easy-to-implement ways to create an environment that is conducive to the satisfaction of students’ needs. This project will be guided by a new circular model, proposed by Belgian researchers, which is an integrated and detailed circular model that examines the various ways in which teachers’ behaviours that satisfy and block students’ needs are considered together, taking into account their similarities, differences and interrelationships

Result to be achieved: to determine the possibilities of assessing the circular profile of teacher behaviour that (un)motivates students in Lithuania and to test the effectiveness of the categories of this profile for different students. The study will involve 50 mathematics teachers and 700 of their pupils in Years 7-8. Using the data from this study, student and teacher versions of the Situations-in-School Questionnaire (Aelterman et al., 2019) will be adapted in Lithuania and a methodological tool for their use will be prepared. This questionnaire will help teachers to reflect on their strengths and direction for improvement, in line with the most recent approach to (un)motivating behaviour in students. Also, the research carried out during the Project will provide insights into the predictive value of the circular profile categories on the consequences for pupils and will allow to test the universality of the effectiveness of these categories for different groups of pupils according to their personal characteristics, type of motivation, and level of competency.

The project is carried out under the Lithuanian Research Council (LRC) supported activity “Welfare Society”.