Teacher Discourse and Sixth Graders' Reported Affect and Achievement Behaviors in Two High-Mastery/High-Performance Mathematics Classrooms

This study examined the relation between the nature of teacher discourse and 34 sixth-grade students' reports of affect and behavior in 2 mathematics classrooms students perceived as emphasizing both mastery and performance goals. Classrooms were observed and teacher discourse was audiorecorded and transcribed for the first 2 days of the school year to assess classroom motivational context. Later, in the fall and in the spring, each classroom was observed and discourse transcribed for 5 days during a unit on factoring and for 5 days during a unit on geometry. Students filled out surveys. Findings suggested that supportive instructional discourse that focused on student understanding characterized both classrooms and was associated with student reports of self-regulation and positive coping (approach behaviors). However, the 2 classrooms differed in teacher discourse that supported student autonomy and motivation. These differences appeared to be reflected in student reports of self-handicapping (avoidance behavior) and negative affect following failure. Students in the classroom in which there was constant and explicit support for autonomy and intrinsic motivation, positive affect, and collaboration reported less negative affect and self-handicapping. Students in the classroom in which there was less supportive motivational discourse reported more negative affect and self-handicapping. Implications include how features of the classroom context, such as the motivational support provided through instructional practices, might be related to student outcomes in high-mastery/high-performance classrooms.