Childhood and adolescence are pivotal developmental stages for psychological health. An understanding of psychological mechanisms related to well-being is important for promoting positive life outcomes for youth. Research generally shows that the basic psychological need for autonomy is significantly associated with well-being. To examine the…

Building upon the circumplex approach to (de)motivating styles defined by self-determination theory, this research aimed: (a) to analyse the extent to which physical education (PE) teachers' (de)motivating teaching approaches differ across gender, school level, and years of teaching experience, and (b) to test paths from PE teachers' need-based…

Students' adaptive motivation to study tends to decrease over time. However, the reasons for this decline are not fully understood. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), we investigated whether changes in teachers' motivating style and students' associated need-based experiences could explain the motivational decline documented in the…

According to self-determination theory, teachers' autonomy support is an effective approach to motivate students to learn. Longitudinal studies are necessary to clear up the relation between students' perception of teacher autonomy support and students' achievement in mathematics. The present study investigated the effect of teachers' autonomy…

Due to the growing number of students enrolling as homeless in American public schools, a quantitative design was applied to determine if students in an Illinois suburban, kindergarten through eighth grade school district (District A), who are enrolled under the McKinney-Vento Act and are receiving resources of food, shelter, clothing, and…

Neurodiversity in learning is the understanding that the different neurological development of students impacts their learning. In adopting a neurodiverse approach to education, educators shift the paradigm from being focused on student deficits to highlighting students' strengths. Many K-8 independent schools do not have explicit programs or…

This study examined moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) trends in physical education (PE) classes and beyond school hours in children's need satisfaction profiles over 3 years. Participants were 445 (girls 256, boys 189) Finnish schoolchildren (M[subscript age] = 11.26 ± 0.32 years). Need satisfaction self-reports and accelerometer-based…

This paper outlines the journey of one Scottish primary school in taking nurturing approaches forward over a 5-year period, with the aims of improving staff understanding of their role and feeling skilled in using nurturing approaches and improving pupil's health and well-being and confidence. Using an action research methodology and the local…

This study explores students' perspectives on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in the classroom and the potential effects on their learning growth in a summer reading program. The summer reading program was free for students in grades 1-8 and was designed to prevent reading-level losses during the summer for students from lower-income…

This study examined the impact of instructional support of fourth-grade students' basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) on their motivation to participate in asynchronous online discussions and their argumentation skills. An instructional intervention called Need Supportive Blended Learning (NSBL) was developed and tested…

Student motivation research seeks to uncover greater understanding of when, how, and why students succeed or fail in school settings. Self-determination theory has been at the forefront of helping educational stakeholders answer questions on student motivation. This study investigates the motivation mediation model proposed by self-determination…

This article describes the ways in which a class of 7- and 8-year-old children used writing to communicate. Using Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics as a theoretical frame, I examine what functions these messages served, how functions varied from child to child and how the practice of message-sending evolved over time. Analysis of data…

The purpose of the current study was to provide a greater depth of knowledge about teachers' psychological functioning at work-including the contextual, basic psychological need satisfaction and personal factors relevant to this. We examined the extent to which perceived autonomy support predicts basic psychological need satisfaction and, in turn,…

Self-determination theory posits that satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness represents the basic nutriments for humans' optimal functioning. It also postulates that with greater the degree to which these three needs are equally satisfied, the quality of motivation is further enhanced. Yet, this premise has remained…

Nurture groups are seen in a variety of school establishments and are considered an effective provision for children with additional social, emotional and behavioural needs. According to an HMIE report (2009) that reviewed the impact of nurture groups in primary schools in Scotland, providing a nurture group environment within a school allows…