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Abstract
Many have claimed, but only some have shown, that the social nature of teaching and classrooms is likely to have a direct effect on students’ achievement goals. This study examined the extent to which Dutch secondary school students’ (N = 2892) achievement goals were related to the interpersonal quality of teaching. Students’ goals were examined in terms of individual student perceptions of their teacher and their teacher’s general interpersonal disposition. Multivariate multilevel models were tested, specifying the student and the teacher level and using two achievement approach and two achievement avoidance goals as dependent variables. The most remarkably finding was that students who like a generally tough teacher (Level 2 effect) better than their peers do (i.e. Level 1 effect, students who report relatively high teacher communion) were more likely to report higher levels of approach goals. In particular when considering interpersonally more ‘extreme’ teacher dispositions, effects on students’ goals were considerable. Regarding students’ goals, identifying teachers who generally convey low levels of interpersonal agency and/or communion seems worthwhile for practitioners. Also identifying students with more pronounced, interpersonally negative perceptions of their teachers may be valuable when targeting students’ achievement goals.
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Author biography
Tim Mainhard (MSC in Cognitive Psychology, PhD in Education) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Education at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. His research uses interpersonal theory to conceptualize social dynamics in educational settings. Tim’s current projects are funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and focus on (1) the importance of social processes for at-risk students’ prolonged engagement and motivation to learn and on (2) the inter-relation of classroom social processes and teacher well-being.
