Influencia del estilo interpersonal docente y necesidades psicológicas básicas sobre el autoconcepto académico en profesorado en formación

Abstract

Introduction University education is considered a key tool for the formation and development of intellectual capital, being the last step for young students to be prepared to face the uncertain future in which they are expected to act as agents of change and innovation, or creators of the future, and thus adapted to the work environment. However, some students may not possess the necessary strategies and skills to meet the demands of academic life and thus develop negative attitudes. Therefore, it is important to know the variables that can influence such a process and how they interact with each other, such as teaching style, social support, academic confidence, academic effort, among others. Theoretical framework The theoretical framework of this work focuses on self-concept, trust and academic commitment, self-determination theory, theory of basic psychological needs and their satisfaction and frustration, teaching style, resilience and social support. Study For all of the above, several objectives were set in this thesis: (i) to validate the Academic Self-Concept Scale in the Spanish university context; (ii) analyze the mediation of academic commitment and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs between teaching styles and trust in teachers in initial training; and (iii) analyze the mediating effect of social support and resilience between satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs and confidence and academic effort. The research followed an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional and nonrandomized design. Regarding the sample, for study 1, 681 university students aged between 18 and 57 years participated (M = 24.55; SD = 5.35). For study 2, 920 university students aged between 20 and 57 years (M = 24.73; SD = 5.34) participated. In both cases, they were students of the Master's Degree in Secondary Education Teachers and the Bachelor's Degree in Primary Education, Early Childhood Education and Pedagogy from several Spanish universities. Finally, for study 3, 1,263 students of the Teacher's Master's Degree in Secondary Education participated (61.4% women; 38.3% men; 0.3% other), with an age that ranged between 22 and 55 years (M = 26.66; SD = 5.82). In study 1, the Academic Self-Concept Scale and the Academic Commitment Scale were used. Regarding data analysis, the descriptive statistics of each item were calculated and the factorial structure of the instrument was evaluated using Exploratory Structural Equation Modelings and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The invariance of the Academic Self-Concept Scale was tested between the gender variable and the educational level variable using the MLR estimate. To respond to the objective of study 2, the scales that measure the following variables were used: teaching interpersonal style in higher education, satisfaction of basic psychological needs in education, academic commitment and academic confidence. For statistical analyses, descriptive and correlational analyzes were performed, and structural equation models were also used. For study 3, the scales that measure the following variables were used: satisfaction of basic psychological needs, frustration of basic psychological needs in education, resilience, social support and academic self-concept. For the statistical analyses, structural equation modeling was performed. Conclusions The findings of this study 1 have shown that the Academic Self-Concept Scale is a reliable and valid instrument to apply to Spanish university students and that it can be applied regardless of gender and educational level, demonstrating the temporal stability of the instrument. From study 2, it can be concluded that in order to increase the academic confidence of future teachers, it is necessary to generate contexts that develop the satisfaction of basic psychological needs through, mainly, an autonomy support style. In addition, the importance of the academic commitment of teachers in training as a mediator between both teaching styles (i.e., controlling style and autonomy support) and academic confidence. Finally, in study 3 it was revealed that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs improves confidence and academic effort in future teachers. In addition, confidence increases when students are resilient and when they feel supported by the teacher (i.e., social support) during the sessions, while for students to try harder in class it is important to feel the support of the teacher