Higher Education

, Volume 75, Issue 4, pp 625–642 | Cite as

Instructors’ teaching styles: relation with competences, self-efficacy, and commitment in pre-service teachers

  • Antonio González
  • Ángeles Conde
  • Pino Díaz
  • Mar García
  • Carmen Ricoy
Article
First Online:

Abstract

Instructors’ teaching styles in higher education are an issue of major importance because these interactions affect students’ self-perceptions, involvement, and achievement. This study aimed to test a theoretical model of relations between perceived teaching styles (autonomy support, structure, and control) and competences, self-efficacy, and commitment in pre-service teachers; to assess the invariance of the model in two samples; and to analyze the mediated relations between these variables. Measures were collected from 842 Spanish pre-service teachers. As main research implications, teaching styles predicted acquired competences, competences predicted teaching self-efficacy, and self-efficacy predicted commitment to the profession. This model was equivalent in two samples of childhood and primary education pre-service teachers. Competences and self-efficacy mediated the relationships between variables. As practical implications, this study clearly shows the need for different interventions to enhance adequate instructors’ teaching styles and to foster among novice pre-service teachers the acquisition of professional competences, initial self-efficacy, and a good level of commitment to their profession.

Keywords

Autonomy support Structure Control Competences Self-efficacy 
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Supplementary material

10734_2017_160_MOESM1_ESM.docx (28 kb)
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Antonio González
    • 1
  • Ángeles Conde
    • 1
  • Pino Díaz
    • 1
  • Mar García
    • 1
  • Carmen Ricoy
    • 1
  1. 1.Faculty of Educational SciencesUniversity of VigoAs LagoasSpain

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