While research has documented associations between teachers’ achievement goals and students’ perceptions of classroom goals, little is known about the mechanisms behind these effects. To enlighten the mode of operation of teacher goals on students’ perceptions of instructional practices and classroom goal structures, a study with 84 secondary school teachers and their 1,447 students (ranging from 7th to 9th grade) in the subject of mathematics was conducted. Classroom goal structures and a wide range of specific mastery and performance-oriented instructional practices derived from Ames’ (1992) TARGET model were assessed via student reports. Teachers reported two types of goals, namely personal achievement goals and student-oriented goals. Two-level path modeling indicated that both types of teacher goals were of relevance. Student reports of teachers’ specific mastery-oriented instructional practices were predicted by teachers’ student-oriented goals and, indirectly, by their personal mastery goals (positively) and performance approach goals (negatively), while performance-oriented instructional practices were negatively predicted by teachers’ personal mastery goals. Perceived classroom goal structures were closely related to these specific instructional practices and also indirectly predicted by teachers’ personal and student-oriented goals.
From teachers' personal achievement goals to students’ perceptions of classroom goal structures: Via student-oriented goals and specific instructional practices
