Self-regulatory teaching in mathematics: relations to teachers' motivation, affect and professional commitment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers' reports on self-regulatory strategy use in mathematics instruction and individual motivational and affective factors. Two hundred and ninety-two Greek primary school teachers responded to two questionnaires assessing (a) the strategies they use themselves to plan, monitor and evaluate mathematics instruction and (b) the strategies they use to activate and enhance students' self-regulated learning in mathematics. Path analysis showed that teachers' self-regulation strategies both for their own teaching and for enhancing students' self-regulation in mathematics were predicted by their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching mathematics, the value they attribute to mathematics and their emotional commitment to their profession. Teachers' enjoyment of mathematics teaching did not directly predict their reported use of self-regulatory instructional strategies. The implications of the study are related to the development of teachers' training programmes in self-regulated instruction.