'Help, my teacher is pressuring me!' The role of students' coping with controlling teaching in motivation and engagement

Ample research has shown that a controlling teaching style is detrimental for students' motivation and engagement in school. However, little is known about how students cope with such a teaching style. Therefore, grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the present study examines the role of four coping strategies (i.e. oppositional defiance, compulsive compliance, negotiation and accommodation) in students' motivation and engagement. A repeated measures design with four weekly assessments was used to examine associations both at the between- and within-student level. The sample consisted of students from 4 to 6th grade (N = 433; 51% boys, Mage = 10.6 years). The findings showed that oppositional defiance exacerbated associations between controlling teaching and amotivation. The moderating role of both compulsive compliance and negotiation was limited. Accommodation buffered associations between controlling teaching and amotivation and low engagement at the within-person level of analysis. In addition to a moderating role, we also found evidence for a mediating role of coping. Specifically, controlling teaching related positively to oppositional defiance and compulsive compliance, which, in turn, were related to maladaptive student outcomes. Moreover, controlling teaching related positively to negotiation, which, in turn, related positively to adaptive student outcomes. Overall, the results underscore students' active role in teacher-student dynamics. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Automated summary

Ample research has shown that a controlling teaching style is detrimental for students' motivation and engagement in school. The present study investigates the role of four coping strategies in students' motivation and engagement, and finds that oppositional defiance exacerbates the negative effects of controlling teaching, while negotiation and accommodation buffer these effects. Moreover, the study reveals a mediating role of coping in the relationship between controlling teaching and student outcomes.