Teachers' goal orientations, classroom goal structures, and emotions: A causal analysis

The current study evaluated the direct and indirect effects of teachers’ goal orientations on classroom goal structures, and teacher emotions. Practicing teachers (N = 495) from the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec were recruited to complete two web-based questionnaires (six-month lag in between) including measures assessing their goal orientations, classroom goal structures, and achievement emotions. Results from cross-lagged analyses and structural equation modeling provide empirical support that teachers’ endorsement of instructional goals not only directly influence their own emotions, but also indirectly influence their emotions through the classroom goal structures they create. Furthermore, results also underscore the importance of work by Butler (2012) in which social dynamics are incorporated as an important element of teachers’ instructional goals. Copyright © 2016 AERA.