Interlinking teachers’ beliefs and motivational practices: a cross-country examination of the relationship with students’ motivation in mathematics

Abstract Building on previous research into teachers’ beliefs and practices in mathematics and their effects on students’ motivation, grounded in the situated-expectancy value framework, we combine person- and variable-centred approaches to examine changes in students’ motivation for mathematics as they transition to middle school. Using longitudinal data from 6656 students across six countries, we examined the slope of change in students’ motivation for mathematics and whether this trajectory is associated with specific constellations of mathematics teachers’ beliefs and practices. Four distinct teacher profiles emerged, with teachers belonging to all profiles in five out of six examined countries. Our findings indicate that each profile is uniquely associated with patterns that support or undermine different facets of students’ motivation for mathematics, suggesting a more complex relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices and students’ motivation for mathematics. Moreover, this relationship varied across the education systems studied, highlighting the importance of considering cultural patterns when discussing teachers’ roles in fostering students’ motivation for mathematics.