Perceptions of the teacher–student relationship climate and the development of academic motivation in high school: a transactional analysis

Abstract

High school teachers often struggle to engage students who have little or no motivation to learn. We argue that improving students’ perceptions of affective relationships with teachers may have the potential to positively influence their motivation, and vice versa. This study looks at reciprocal associations between students’ perceptions of the teacher–student relationship climate (PTSRC) and three components of academic motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation), measured at two time points, over a 12–month period. We recruited 328 students (on average 15 years of age, 65% girls) from public high schools in disadvantaged areas of a Canadian suburb. We found that students’ autonomous motivation predicted an increase in positive PTSRC. In contrast, we did not find evidence that PTSRC predicted either autonomous or controlled motivation. Nonetheless, a positive PTSRC predicted a decrease in students’ amotivation. This finding suggests that high school students’ positive PTSRC can help them find purpose in their schooling. Knowing that motivation typically declines during the high school years, this study is important because it suggests that promoting positive teacher–student relationships can contribute to ward off such decline.

Keywords:

• Motivation
• adolescence
• high school
• student–teacher relationships
• longitudinal analyses

Acknowledgment

We thank the students, parents and school staff of schools that participated in this study, as well as students and research assistants who made this project possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Quebec Research Funds – Society and culture (establishment of new professors 2013-NP-167302 to MHV; infrastructure grant for research teams, 2013-SE-164393 to MHV as a regular team member; doctoral fellowships to YCV and OG), the Quebec Research Funds – Health (establishment of new researchers, 28802, and Research Scholar, 26858 and 266652, granted to MHV) and the Faculty of Human Sciences at UQAM (start-up funds to MHV, doctoral awards to YCV and OG).