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Education as Flourishing : Self-Determination Theory in Schools as They Are and as They Might Be
Ryan, Richard Michael Reeve, Johnmarshall Kaplan, Haya Matos, Lennia Cheon, Sung Hyeon
Ryan, Richard Michael
Reeve, Johnmarshall
Kaplan, Haya
Matos, Lennia
Cheon, Sung Hyeon
Abstract
In the perspective of self-determination theory the central aim of education should be that of enhancing students’ flourishing. Flourishing involves not only the development of cognitive capacities but also capacities for agency, prosocial relationships, and psychological wellness. Strong evidence within self-determination theory, reviewed herein, shows how teaching styles that support students’ basic needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence foster these aspects of flourishing, enhancing the quality of students’ engagement, learning, and social relationships. Also highlighted are how students’ motivation and agency reciprocally influence teachers’ tendency to be need supportive, such that interventions on both sides of the teacher-student relationship can enhance learning climates. Nonetheless, this body of evidence concerns optimizing need supports within existing school environments, which too often remain mired in policies, practices, and omnipresent evaluations that are not designed for student flourishing, and which instead often harm both students’ and teachers’ well-being and motivation. The chapter’s conclusion includes a call to broaden the criteria by which schools are evaluated to include process as well as outcome targets. Creating the best schools we can imagine entails the assessment and cultivation of what really matters (i.e., process targets) to student flourishing in both their present and future lives.
Keywords
agentic engagement, autonomy, autonomy support, psychological needs, SDT-based interventions, students, teachers
Date
2023
Type
Book chapter
Journal
Book
The Oxford Handbook of Self-Determination Theory
Volume
Issue
Page Range
591
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled
Notes
© Oxford University Press 2023
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.