The relationship between teachers’ experience of work pressure and their performing of professional learning activities: an explanation through basic need frustration and controlled motivation

Joost Jansen in de Wal, J. Schuitema, Antoine van den Beemt, Perry den Brok, Rob L. Martens

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Because of ongoing educational changes in many countries, teachers are required to continuously learn and develop. To do so, they need to perform professional learning activities (e.g., read literature and participate in courses). At the same time, teachers experience work pressure from their primary tasks (e.g., preparing and teaching lessons and grading students’ work). The relationship between work pressure and teachers’ performing of professional learning activities is not clear from current research. Some studies find positive effects, while others report zero or negative relationships. An explanation for these mixed findings could be that only moderate work pressure creates a concern for professional learning, because learning can help to alleviate the negative consequences of work pressure. This implies a curvilinear relationship between experienced work pressure and teachers’ performing of professional learning activities. It is hypothesized that this relationship can be explained through basic need frustration and controlled motivations. That is, work pressure can cause teachers to experience controlled motivations (i.e., feel pressured) to improve their circumstances through learning. This relationship could, in turn, be explained through basic need frustration. However, when work pressure becomes too high, basic need frustration could become too high and teachers become concerned with their wellbeing instead of learning (Jansen in de Wal, van den Beemt, Martens, & den Brok, 2018). In this study, these expectations are evaluated employing data collected at three occasions among 2359 (t1), 678 (t2), and 536 (t3) secondary school teachers from the Netherlands. Analyses of a complete measurement model show factorial validity and longitudinal metric measurement invariance of our measures of work pressure, basic need frustration, controlled motivations and learning frequency, χ2(8106) = 13546.49, p < .001; CFI = .91; TLI = .90; RMSEA = .02; SRMR = .05. The latent zero-order correlations between all constructs derived from this model are in line with our hypotheses. At the time of the conference, longitudinal panel models will have been evaluated that further test whether basic need frustration and controlled motivations mediate the (quadratic) relationship between work pressure and teachers’ performing of professional learning activities over time.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationSelf-determination Theory Conference
    Publication statusPublished - 2019
    Event7th Self-determination Theory Conference - Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands
    Duration: 21 May 201924 May 2019

    Conference

    Conference7th Self-determination Theory Conference
    Country/TerritoryNetherlands
    CityEgmond aan Zee
    Period21/05/1924/05/19

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