Observed need-supportive and need-thwarting teaching behavior in physical education: Do teachers' motivational orientations matter?

• Teachers' causality orientations are studied as antecedents of teaching behavior.
• Observations of both need-supportive and need-thwarting behavior were used.
• Controlled orientation related to both need support and need-thwarting.
• Autonomy orientation did not relate to teaching behavior.
• Attention is needed for control-oriented teachers when implementing interventions.

ObjectivesThe behaviors physical education (PE) teachers engage in affect a number of important student outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to study the antecedents of these teaching behaviors.Design and methodGrounded in Self-Determination Theory, this cross-sectional study explored the relations between PE teachers' autonomous and controlled motivational orientations and a variety of observed need-supportive and need-thwarting teaching behaviors in 79 PE classes by means of regression analyses.ResultsControl-oriented teachers made less use of an overall need-supportive teaching style and provided less structure during the activity in particular, while they engaged in more need-thwarting teaching behavior in general and in more controlling and cold teaching behavior in particular.ConclusionAlthough autonomy-oriented teachers tended to display the opposite pattern of correlates, these associations were non-significant. As the current findings suggest that teachers' actual teaching behavior is rooted at least partly in their own dispositional motivational orientation, they may inform the design of effective continuous professional development programs and interventions aimed at enhancing teachers' need-supportive teaching. Directions for future research are discussed.