Teacher interaction style as a source of different types of motivation in music college students

Context and relevance. Despite numerous pedagogical studies on optimal teaching and teacher-student interactions, practice lacks scientifically based recommendations on teacher interaction styles that support student intrinsic motivation, interest, and engagement. Objective. This article presents the results of a study examining the role of music students' perceived teacher interaction styles in their academic motivation. Methods and materials. College music students (N = 203, M = 19,14, SD = 1,23, 66% female) rated their teacher's interaction style (supportive, frustrating, and indifferent) using the modified “Manager's Interpersonal Style” questionnaire, satisfaction of basic psychological needs in learning using the “Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale”, and their academic motivation (intrinsic, various types of extrinsic, and amotivation) using the “Academic Motivation Scale”. Results. Each of the three styles is shown to have differentiated relationships with academic motivation. Testing the theoretical model using structural modeling revealed that a supportive teacher interaction style directly and indirectly, through satisfaction of basic psychological needs, contributes to intrinsic motivation. Frustrating and indifferent interaction styles predict amotivation, and the indifferent style also contributes to external motivation. Conclusions. These results contribute to theory and practice, highlighting the important role of teacher-student interaction in music education. For the first time, drawing on self-determination theory, two unproductive teacher interaction styles — indifferent and frustrating — were identified, and their implications for music motivation are demonstrated. The findings can inform the optimization of individualized teaching for music students and the training of educators in interaction styles that foster students' competence, autonomy, and relatedness to the teacher.

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