Differentiating Teachers’ Social Goals: Implications for Teacher–Student Relationships and Perceived Classroom Engagement

Abstract

Whereas developing meaningful connections with students has long been documented as critical for promoting classroom engagement, teachers’ differing motives for building relationships with students remain underexplored. This study examined teachers’ social achievement goals from a multidimensional perspective in relation to teachers’ self-efficacy, teacher–student relationships, and perceived classroom engagement. Results from practicing K–12 teachers (N = 154) from across Canada showed three distinct goal orientations including social mastery-approach, social mastery-avoidance, and social ability goals (combining social ability-approach and social ability-avoidance goals). Teachers who aimed to develop better social skills with students (social mastery-approach goals) reported higher self-efficacy, better relationships with students, and greater classroom engagement. In contrast, social goal orientations focused on not losing connections with students (social mastery-avoidance goals) or being well-liked (social ability goals) did not correspond with self-efficacy or classroom outcomes. Implications concerning integrative pedagogies and growth mind-sets pertaining to relationship building were discussed.