Linking teacher efficacy and professional responsibility with teachers’ motivating styles and student engagement

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Teachers’ motivational beliefs—i.e., teachers’ self-efficacy and felt responsibility for educational outcomes—can shape their professional decision-making and approach to teaching. However, theorized associations with student outcomes remain elusive. In a multi-level analysis with 96 Swiss vocational teachers and their 1,300 students, we examined the interrelations between teachers’ self-efficacy, responsibility, teacher- and student-reported autonomy-supportive versus psychologically controlling teaching, and student motivation (emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement). Teachers’ motivational beliefs predicted their endorsement of autonomy-supportive teaching, which in turn predicted student-reported autonomy support. Student-reported autonomy support was a powerful predictor of student engagement. Teachers’ motivational beliefs did not predict student-rated instructional practices and engagement directly, and indirect effects via teacher- and student-rated autonomy support were small. Teacher- and student-reported controlling practices were not significantly correlated. The degree of (mis)alignment of teacher- and student-reported instructional practices is a key ingredient in understanding the often missing link between teacher motivation and student outcomes.