Teacher educators’ teaching styles: relation with learning motivation and academic engagement in pre-service teachers

Teaching styles that satisfy students’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been found to influence various types of learning outcomes in school and college contexts. However, little is known about how these teaching styles are associated with pre-service teachers’ learning motivation and academic engagement. This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their teacher educators’ teaching styles (i.e. instructional clarity, support and feedback, autonomy support, and support for cooperative learning) and their learning motivation and academic engagement. Data were collected from 601 first-year pre-service secondary teachers randomly selected from regional teacher training centres in Cambodia. Structural equation analyses revealed that perceptions of teacher educators’ teaching styles have significant associations with pre-service teachers’ intrinsic motivation and academic engagement. This study provides more scientific evidence concerning determinants of pre-service teachers’ learning motivation and academic engagement. In addition, practical implication is recommended for teacher educators.