Do teachers’ own learning behaviors influence their classroom goal orientation and control ideology?

This study explored the relationship between teachers’ own learning behaviors and their teaching practices. Experienced teachers taking graduate courses responded to an instrument measuring their self-regulated learning as students and their teaching practices as indicated by how they conveyed the purpose of engaging in academic work (i.e., goal orientation) and their approach toward discipline (i.e., control ideology). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that teachers own self-regulated learning behaviors influence the extent to which teachers convey a mastery goal orientation, which in turn leads to a more humanistic control ideology. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.