Building relationships in higher education to support students’ motivation

Student-teacher relationships in higher education take place in two embedded social contexts: the in-class environment and the educational institute in which the in-class environment is situated. The interplay between the two contexts and their association with students’ motivation was studied in the current study. In a broad sample (N=597), perceptions of student-staff relationship quality, need-supportive teaching in class, and autonomous and controlled motivation were measured. Perceptions of in-class teacher involvement were associated with autonomous motivation, while perceptions of in-class teacher structure were associated with controlled motivation. The association of perceptions of in-class teacher involvement and autonomy support with autonomous motivation seemed to be suppressed by perceptions of trust in benevolence. This indicates that students can get a ‘just tell me what to do’- attitude when trust in benevolence makes them shift from being supported to depending on support. Studying both embedded contexts in one analysis, resulted in a more fine-grained insight.