Faculty Publications

Family Motivation For Involvement: Understanding Engagement Practices Through Self-Determination Theory

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Competence, Family engagement, Family motivation, Psychological needs, Role construction, Self-determination theory, Self-efficacy, Social networks

Journal/Book/Conference Title

The Wiley Handbook of Family, School, and Community Relationships in Education

First Page

445

Last Page

466

Abstract

This chapter argues that Self-Determination Theory (SDT) adds value to the research and practice of family engagement because it offers an explanation of how to motivate families for involvement by meeting their psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Family engagement occurs in myriad ways both within the context of schools and outside of it. Families construct their roles based upon both internal and external factors that help to define the “basic range of activities that parents construe as important, necessary, and permissible for their own actions with and on behalf of their children”. Recent studies examining family motivation for involvement in schools have focused on two core beliefs, self-efficacy and role construction, as primary motivators for family engagement. The chapter addresses school actions or attitudes that can promote need fulfillment in families for enhanced engagement. Social networks offer important implications for satisfying the basic psychological need of relatedness for enhancing family motivation for involvement.

Department

Richard O. Jacobson Endowed Chair of Leadership in Education

Original Publication Date

1-7-2019

DOI of published version

10.1002/9781119083054.ch21

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

Link to Full Text

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