Teachers’ motivating style, students’ basic psychological needs, academic reading motivation, and engagement

Students display different amounts and types of motivation for academic reading. Drawing upon self-determination theory, we examined the relationship between perceived teachers’ motivating style and students’ basic psychological needs, regulatory styles, and engagement around academic reading. Participants were 235 Peruvian fourth-fifth graders who completed questionnaires regarding their experiences of motivation and their teachers’ perceived motivating style during visits to the school library. Students’ engagement was rated by their teachers. Perceived teachers’ autonomy support had a positive direct relationship with intrinsic regulation. Perceived teacher control displayed a positive indirect relationship with external regulation, mediated by students’ basic needs frustration, and a direct relationship to the same outcome. Teacher control also showed a negative direct relationship with teacher-rated behavioral and agentic engagement and intrinsic regulation. Results highlight the importance of teachers’ motivating styles in students’ motivational experiences.