The Circumplex Model of Need-Supportive and Need-Thwarting Teaching: A Guide for Research and Practice

Physical education teachers play a crucial role in shaping students’ motivation and other important outcomes through their need-supportive and need-thwarting interactions. Understanding the full range and complexity of these interactions is therefore essential for advancing both theory and practice. The Circumplex Model, a Self-Determination Theory-based model, offers a promising, evidence-based framework to capture this complexity. It integrates different need-supportive and need-thwarting dimensions and adopts a graded and fine-grained approach. This reflective text outlines how the Circumplex Model can guide research by identifying which constructs to examine, which analyses to use, and how to significantly move the field forward. It also highlights the model’s practical relevance, providing a guide for formative professional development initiatives and intervention studies. In addition, the model helps to interpret teaching practices, showing that the effectiveness of teaching depends on its implementation and interpretation. Overall, the Circumplex Model holds strong potential to advance the educational field by bridging theory and practice.