within PE lessons. Further to Ryan et al. (1994), Shen et al. (2009) reported that students’ perceptions of teachers’ autonomy supportive behaviours predicted students’ adjustment to social-contextual influences within the classroom, which, it was posited, led to enhanced knowledge and achievement. Perceptions of relatedness and competence was particularly enhanced amongst students who had not, prior to the study, regarded themselves as autonomously motivated to learn. Positive perceptions of teachers’ autonomy supportive behaviours were associated with positive perceptions of the teacher-student relationship. In turn, changes in students’ perceptions of teachers’ autonomy support positively predicted changes in the students’ autonomous motivation, their perceived quality of the teacher-
student relationship, and the satisfaction of the need for competence (p. 49). It was concluded that the presence, absence or variance of teachers’ autonomy support predicts learning
achievement and changes in students’ autonomous motivation for learning activities (p. 50). Such changes in the evolution of students’ perceptions of the quality of the teacher-student relationship and perceived competence were positively associated with enhanced perceptions of teachers’ autonomy support and interrelated changes to students’ autonomous motivation (p. 51).
2.19.2 Studies primarily focusing upon Competence
Five of the included studies focused primarily upon the enhancement of perceived competence through the lens of SDT. Conroy et al. (2005) focused upon the impact of the satisfaction of the three SDT basic psychological upon the enhancement of 165 US students (aged 7 to 18) perceived competence and subsequent engagement with activities. The research design was longitudinal, with surveys being administered at the beginning, middle and end of the swim season. The specific focus was the influence of feedback from adults upon students’ perceived competence and self-esteem, and the resultant potential impact upon sustained engagement with activities.
Common across the age range cohorts was the association between higher levels of perceived competence and higher self-efficacy, higher self-esteem, and higher competence need satisfaction. This association was correlated with higher levels of self-determined motivation and intrinsic motivation. Clearly, the variance in perceptions was measured at the within-subject level. However, it was also possible to make inferences as to the key
mediating and influential variables at the between-subjects level. As with other studies
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influence upon the enhancement or thwarting of self-determined motivation, and the resultant quality and persistence of the desire to engage with learning in a specific context, was the motivating presence of upon teacher-afforded variables such as care, support and feedback. Ultimately, perceived competence was found to be predictive of sustained engagement, higher levels of self-reported intrinsic motivation and self-esteem. Such findings were based upon the satisfaction of all three SDT basic psychological needs. Students who self-reported a fear of failure (absent or low self-efficacy) reported negative perceptions of low self-esteem, as well as low domain-specific self-concept and competence (p. 107). Similar to Bandura (1977), Conroy et al. (2005) conclude that “Settings where children and youth have
opportunities to practice a set of … skills while receiving reasonable instruction and feedback should enhance self-efficacy and perceptions of competence” (p. 108).
The influence of perceived competence upon students’ acceptance of teachers’ autonomy supportive behaviours was explored by Guay et al. (2001). The longitudinal
prospective design utilised two data points in order to test three hypothetical models. The first model was based upon the SDT microtheory, Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET: Deci and Ryan, 1985): this posited that teachers’ autonomy supportive behaviours led to changes in students’ intrinsic motivation. Such changes were due to mediating changes in students’ perceived competence. The second and third models tested were based upon the Diathesis Stress Model of Achievement (Boggiano, 1998). The two models emphasised intrinsic motivation as the mediating variable between changes in perceived competence and teachers’ support of students’ autonomy during learning activities. The view central to all three models is that teachers’ autonomy supportive behaviours can directly satisfy students’ sense of competence and have a causal influence upon intrinsic motivation. By contrast, it was argued that DCTBs thwart students’ perceived competence (Guay et al., 2001, p. 643). Whilst the findings provided some support for the SDT-based CET model, there was stronger correlative support for the other two models: that the influence of intrinsic motivation appears to be the mediating variable between students’ perceived competence and their self-reported
motivation for autonomy. That is, changes in perceived competence were positively
associated with changes in intrinsic motivation (p. 649). Such changes in intrinsic motivation appeared to mediate between changes in perceived competence and students’ receptiveness to teachers’ autonomy support behaviours and methods (p. 649).
Kajala et al. (2009), similarly, focused upon the motivational relationship between the teacher, perceived competence, and self-determined motivation within the social context of the classroom. The research method was a single survey of 370 12 to 13 year-old students in
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Finland, which harvested their responses regarding the key variables that informed their engagement or disengagement during PE lessons. The results revealed that the teacher’s affordance of a task-involving climate (where students are rewarded for effort, and are involved in learning activities that emphasise mastery goals, in-depth conceptual
understanding, cooperation and task mastery) has a positive influence upon the enhancement of perceived competence. In turn, enhanced perceived competence had a positive impact upon students’ perceived self-determined motivation. By contrast, within an ego-involving climate (where the teacher places an emphasis upon performance goals, achievement benchmarks and comparisons between students), there was found to be a negative impact upon the enhancement of perceived competence, which, in turn, had a negative influence upon students’ perceived self-determined motivation. The findings emphasise the importance of placing teacher behaviours and methods within the classroom at the heart of the
satisfaction of all three of the SDT basic psychological needs. For example, competence was enhanced by success within learning activities and the quality of relationships within the classroom, which, in turn, mediates the development of self-determined motivation to engage in further activities (p.328). Kajala et al. (2009) suggest, similar to other studies, that
perceived competence is the key mediator between the quality of the teacher-student
relationship (relatedness) and the motivation to be autonomous (autonomy) within SDT, as:
“… a mastery supportive motivational climate influences perceived competence, which in turn affects motivation…” and that “…teachers are in a position to stimulate students’ [learning] by emphasizing student effort, progress and learning. Such a climate seems to facilitate the stimulation of students’ need for competence, in turn stimulating more self-determined forms of motivation…”
(p. 328)
They also note that whilst students’ autonomous motivation can lead to the enhancement of mastery skills, students need to perceive themselves as having the self- efficacy to develop such skills through the exercise of their autonomy.
Jaakkola et al. (2013) investigated the influence of selected contextual motivational variables and perceived competence as variables predictive of engagement with activities during PE lessons. This was a three-year longitudinal prospective design, with responses being harvested through the use of surveys at three data points. The results shared similarities with Kajala et al. (2009), which, given that Jaakkola was involved in both studies, is hardly surprising. Both studies confirmed the important influence of a teacher-afforded task-
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involving climate upon students’ positive desire for engagement via the mediating motivational variables of students’ perceived competence and intrinsic motivation for
learning. These findings also bear similarities to and are built upon the assertions of Cox and Williams (2008). The findings from all three studies suggest that perceived competence, including self-efficacy, when encountering a new learning activity, has implications for cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement within a specific context. Within the settings investigated, it appeared that classroom environments where teachers placed an emphasis upon the support of students’ mastery of learning activities had a resultant positive influence upon students’ perceived competence and intrinsic motivation. In turn, within the confines of the study, both perceived competence and intrinsic motivation emerged as predictive of initiated and sustained engagement during activities.
The findings of Kajala et al. (2009) and Jaakkola et al. (2009) have been indirectly supported by the study of Skinner et al. (2012). The latter study involved 310 US 11 to 13- year-old students, the majority of whom self-reported that their feelings of intrinsic
motivation and the need to engage with learning were predicted by perceived competence and autonomy. The strength and direction of these perceptions were, in turn, predictive of
sustained engagement and subsequent achievement. It is emphasised throughout the study that teachers ultimately influence and shape students’ self-perceptions and, as a consequence, their engagement. This study, which built upon the prior findings of many years of research studying students’ perceived competence, revealed that “…perceptions of self-efficacy, ability, academic competence, and control are robust predictors of school engagement, learning, academic performance, and achievement ...” (p. 19) through “… the quality of student-teacher relationships, in the form of caring supportive alliances, has been emphasized as a key predictor of academic engagement, effort, and achievement expectancies …” (p. 19). They note that only “recently, autonomy supportive instruction (giving choices, making learning relevant) has also been linked to engagement” (p. 19). Behavioural engagement, affective engagement and disaffection were reported to be significant predictors of students’ engagement with learning activities. By contrast, the need for autonomy and intrinsic
motivation appeared to have indirect effects on learning and achievement. Of the two, intrinsic motivation had a stronger predictive influence upon learning and achievement than students’ need to be autonomopus (p. 32). Therefore, it was inferred that “… there may be other mediators besides engagement through which autonomy and intrinsic motivation shape learning … At the same time, they may also reflect reciprocal effects, in which greater learning … fosters more intrinsic motivation and a greater sense of autonomy” (p. 32).
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2.19.3 Studies primarily focusing upon Autonomy through Autonomy Support and