What practices are used by pre-service teachers to support the psychological needs of students? Validation of an observation grid for high school education

Internships are considered an essential part of the teacher education program (Kervick et al., 2020). In Québec and Belgium, pre-service teachers are expected to do a minimum of 700 hours of practical training (ME, 2020; FWB, 2000). While internships are perceived by trainees as the most important part of their training (Malo, 2010), high dropout rates among young Canadian and Belgian teachers, along with the burnout experienced by many of them (Hugues et al., 2014; Kamanzi et al., 2017), suggest they are not sufficiently prepared to face the profession’s demands. This raises a crucial question with regard to pre-service training: how can trainees be encouraged to reach their full potential, with the support of their trainers (associate teachers and university supervisors), to help them effectively negotiate their entry into the teaching profession? According to self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2020), every individual has three basic psychological needs (BPNs) whose fulfillment is necessary for motivation, well-being and optimal functioning. These needs are autonomy (the individual perceives that they act voluntarily and have control over events), competence (they perceive that they interact effectively with their environment and that their actions generate desired consequences), and relatedness (they perceive that they are meaningfully connected to others, and that they have warm, reciprocal relationships with people they deem important). Many studies have documented the benefits of meeting these needs in a variety of professional fields, including teaching (Fernet et al., 2008; Reeve et al., 2003). In general, practicing teachers who perceive that their BPNs are met are more self-motivated (teaching is enjoyable and important), more engaged and more likely to exhibit behaviors that support their students' motivation and engagement (e.g., Pelletier et al., 2002). Fulfillment of BPNs, however, appears to depend on three factors found in the environment: autonomy support (the person feels that their perspective is recognized and that they are provided with opportunities to make their own choices), structure (they perceive that their environment is predictable, that expectations are clear and that they receive feedback that helps them meet expectations) and involvement (they perceive that they are cared about, given time and encouraged; Ryan et al., 2008). The purpose of our research is to validate an observation grid of the practices employed by pre-service teachers in the classroom in order to identify those that support their students’ psychological needs. High school pre-service teachers (mathematics, French, social sciences) shared with the researchers a video of themselves filmed during a complete teaching period. Three researchers coded each video according to a grid developed from the work of Reeve et al. (2003), and this cross-coding allowed for the triangulation of data (Hussein, 2009). The observation grid will be presented along with the potential support it could provide to trainee trainers (associate teachers and university supervisors).

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