Self-determination Theory and Education

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Self-determination theory (SDT) is a theory of motivation (and personal development) proposed by - Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, initially in their 1985 book (Intrinsic motivation and self-determination).

It is applicable to a range of contexts within an individual's professional and personal life, and is extremely useful when applied to education and the process of teaching and learning.

A foundational premise of this theory is that humans have an inherent desire to be curious, active and social, therefore the extent to which humans can, and are motivated to, pursue these inherent desires and goals is predicated on the environment they frequent and the extent to which three basic psychological needs are facilitated or thwarted, the needs being:

  • Competence
  • Relatedness
  • Autonomy

In teaching we should therefore create an environment where:

Competence which involves feelings of mastery and a sense that we can succeed and grow, is provided through a structured environment, with optimal challenge, and positive feedback.

Relatedness which is a state of belonging and connection, is fosters through opportunities to support others and receive support, as well as informal and/or formal indicators of identity are provided.

Autonomy which is a sense of ownership and volition of one's actions, is catered for through choice of activities, and where the content aligns with learners interests and values.

Where these are present, there is more likely to be higher levels of motivation, resulting in optimal performance, learning and wellbeing of learners.

To note while all three basic psychological needs are vital, perhaps the most influential is autonomy, as such much of the discussion of the theory related to education is with regard to how to create an autonomy supporting an environment.

The second key concept of this theory related to the conceptualisation of type of motivation individuals experience.

Intrinsic motivation (IM) could be considered as the gold standard of motivation type and the one that we aspire to facilitate, through the environment we create (by providing for the basic needs of competence, relatedness and autonomy).

IM is where we are motivated for the inherent enjoyment of engaging in an activity for its own sake

More commonly we (or our learners) will experience extrinsic motivation (EM). Extrinsic motivation is that which is driven by external factors, in the simplest form a reward (or punishment) we receive. Deci and Ryan propose that there are 4 categories of EM on a continuum, from 'external regulation' where we are motivated to act based on the external reward we receive (or punishment we seek to avoid), to 'integrated' EM where the action aligns closely with our values and goals we want to achieve.

Returning to the basic psychological needs, if we create a learning environment where competence, relatedness and autonomy are facilitated, then learners are more likely to experience integrated EM or IM and hence adhere to the (learning) activities, resulting in more effective learning.

Educators should therefore use this framework as a lens to view all the decisions they make with regard to learning design and delivery, alongside other contextual considerations related to the material and learner needs.





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