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Stimulating Autonomous Motivation in the Classroom

The Role of Interpersonal Teacher Agency and Communion

  • Chapter
Interpersonal Relationships in Education

Part of the book series: Advances in Learning Environments Research ((ALER))

Abstract

Self Determination Theory (SDT) distinguishes the quality of motivation from its quantity or intensity (Vansteenkiste, Sierens, Soetens, Luyckx, & Lens, 2009). A sequence from controlled to autonomous motivation is adopted; autonomous motivation is seen as the best quality type. Being autonomously motivated, as opposed to controlled, has been found to lead to more volitional persistence, better relationships in social groups, more effective performance, greater health and wellbeing (Deci & Ryan, 2002), deep-level cognitive processing (Vansteenkiste et al., 2009), and creativity (Ryan & Deci, 2000a). The extent to which students’ motivation is controlled or autonomous, describes a difference in the quality of motivation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands

    Lindy Wijsman

  2. Department of Education, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

    Tim Mainhard

  3. Department of Education, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

    Mieke Brekelmans

Authors
  1. Lindy Wijsman
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  2. Tim Mainhard
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  3. Mieke Brekelmans
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Canada

    David Zandvliet

  2. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Perry den Brok

  3. Utrecht University, The Netherlands

    Tim Mainhard

  4. Utrecht University, The Netherlands

    Jan van Tartwijk

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© 2014 Sense Publishers

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Wijsman, L., Mainhard, T., Brekelmans, M. (2014). Stimulating Autonomous Motivation in the Classroom. In: Zandvliet, D., Brok, P.d., Mainhard, T., Tartwijk, J.v. (eds) Interpersonal Relationships in Education. Advances in Learning Environments Research. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-701-8_14

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