Rebecca Lazarides

Background: Teachers' relational goals are important prerequisites of positive teacher–student relationships, in turn shaping students' emotional experiences during the learning process. However, the reciprocal nature of these interrelations remains unclear. Aims: We tested reciprocal relations between teachers' relational goals, student‐perceived conflicts with teachers, and students' boredom in German and mathematics class. Sample: N = 89 German language teachers with their n = 1573 students and n = 77 mathematics teachers with their n = 1588 students who participated across four time points (T1–T4) over two school years. Methods: We estimated two subject‐specific (German/mathematics) random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel models (RI‐CLPMs). Results: In German classes, teachers' relational goals (T3) negatively related to students' boredom (T4). In mathematics classes, students' boredom (T1) negatively related to teachers' relational goals (T2). In both subjects, students' overall conflict with the teacher was positively related to their overall boredom. Conclusions: The findings suggest subject‐specific transactional dynamics rather than consistent reciprocal effects by showing that German language teachers' relational goals are related to lower subsequent boredom, whereas in mathematics, higher student boredom was associated with lower subsequent teachers' relational goals. Strengthening relational classroom practices may help reduce boredom and conflict.

In this meta-analysis, we examine the association between teacher well-being and ill-being with student motivation and achievement. Based on 186 articles, 811 effect sizes, and data from 355,637 teachers, we investigate these relationships through the lens of the Job Demands–Resources Model, Transactional Stress Model, Self-Determination Theory, and the PERMA model. Using three-level meta-analytic models, we found small to moderate associations between student outcomes and teacher well-being ( r = .18) and ill-being ( r = –.13). These associations were similarly patterned across student motivation and student achievement, with no significant differences by outcome type. Associations were also comparable across domains of teacher functioning with no significant differences by domain. Moderator analyses indicated stronger associations in secondary school settings. Associations were also larger when teacher and student variables were reported by the same informant, although this difference reached conventional significance only for teacher ill-being and approached significance for teacher well-being. These findings suggest that teacher well-being and ill-being show reliable but modest associations with student motivation and achievement across a diverse body of research, though the evidence remains largely correlational. Given this correlational nature and the influence of measurement source, future longitudinal and intervention research is needed to clarify causal mechanisms and the direction of effects.

In higher education, understanding motivational processes underlying student success is crucial for designing effective learning environments. Grounded in Situated Expectancy-Value Theory, this study examined how perceived instructional quality relates to academic achievement and whether these relations involve indirect links through subjective task values. We examined whether these relations differ between difficult and important courses. The sample consisted of 389 U.S. college students (70% female). Latent change score models revealed that in both course contexts, higher perceived instructional quality was associated with higher initial levels of subjective task values. Initial subjective task values were positively related to achievement and formed significant indirect pathways linking instructional quality and achievement. Changes in subjective task values did not mediate these relations. While the pattern of findings was largely comparable across course contexts, some descriptive differences emerged, pointing to context-specific nuances in how instructional quality related to subjective task values. These findings highlight the importance of instructional quality for students’ motivation across learning contexts in higher education.

Background: Reciprocal emotional transmissions between teachers and students have recently gained more research interest. Teacher–student relationship (TSR) quality is proposed to play an important role, but this transmission pathway lacks empirical evidence. Further, existing studies on this subject tend to focus on positive emotions, while associations of negative emotions are mostly observed within cross‐sectional designs. Aims: This study aims to investigate TSR quality as a transmission factor between teachers' and students' positive and negative emotions. We assume this to be a reciprocal process. Our sample consisted of n = 1638 students ( M _age = 13.95, SD = 0.86) and n = 118 German and mathematics teachers ( M _age = 45.29, SD = 10.68) from n = 86 public secondary school classes in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg‐Western Pomerania, Germany. Methods: Longitudinal questionnaire data were gathered in three waves. The present analyses investigated whether teacher‐reported relationship quality between the teacher and the class explained the effects of teacher‐reported enjoyment of teaching and teachers' anxiety on students' enjoyment and anxiety in class across two subject domains. Results: In mathematics, TSR at T1 was significantly related to teacher emotions at T2, and student emotions at T2 were significantly related to TSR at T3. In German, teacher emotions at T2 were significantly related to TSR at T3. A direct relation between teacher anxiety at T1 and student anxiety at T2 emerged. Conclusion: In our study, we could observe transmission effects, although the pathways differed more than anticipated. Further research incorporating contextual factors like school subject is needed.

Although teacher-student relationships (TSRs) are well-established predictors of students' academic development, little is known about whether adolescents' retrospectively remembered teacher-student relationships from primary school are associated with later relational, motivational, and achievement-related outcomes in secondary school. In addition, most longitudinal studies rely on single-informant data and do not distinguish stable between-person differences from within-person developmental processes. Using four measurement occasions across Grades 8-9 and 9-10 and applying Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models (RI-CLPM), this study examined whether students' retrospectively reported primary-school TSR and contemporaneous teacher-rated teacher–class relationships (TCR) were associated with secondary-school students' perceived TSR, learning goal orientation, and competence in mathematics and German literacy while disentangling stable between-person differences from within-person dynamics. The sample comprised 935 students in mathematics classes (MageT1 = 13.9 years, 52.5% female) and 755 students in German classes (MageT1 = 13.9 years, 52.7% female), along with 60 mathematics and 53 German teachers. RI-CLPM results revealed selective long-shadow associations of retrospectively remembered primary-school TSR, which were primarily related to later academic competence rather than subsequent relationship perceptions. In contrast, teacher-rated TCR in Grade 8/9 showed consistent longitudinal associations with students' relational and motivational functioning and, in mathematics, also with academic competence. Most longitudinal associations reflected stable between-person differences, whereas within-person dynamics were comparatively limited and domain-specific.

Background: Previous research has consistently shown that students’ math motivation declines across the school years. However, less is known about individual differences in these developmental trajectories. Aim: This study investigated the development of students’ math self-concept of abilities, intrinsic value, utility value and emotional cost from Grades 4 to 8 at the average level and by identifying distinct growth trajectory profiles. Profile membership was further related to gender and performance. Sample: The sample comprised 875 Finnish students (53 % girls) from Grades 4 to 8 using an accelerated longitudinal design. Method: Latent growth curve models and growth mixture modeling were utilized. Gender differences were analyzed using the 3-step approach and differences in math performance were examined using the BCH method.Results: On average, self-concept of abilities, intrinsic value, and utility value declined whereas emotional cost increased over time. Three trajectory profiles were identified: Positive declining reflected the normative developmental pattern, while students in the Struggling profile showed lower initial motivation, increasing emotional cost, and the lowest math performance. Further, students in the Fading interest profile, predominantly boys, maintained high self-concept and performance despite low/moderate utility value and steeply declining intrinsic value. Conclusion: The average developmental trends concealed individual differences in students’ motivational development. While most students followed the expected decline, distinct profiles showed that motivation can develop differently across students and have different implications for academic performance.