Classroom dynamics in physical education: The interplay of student agentic actions, teacher autonomy support and student intrinsic motivation

This study adopts a transactional perspective on classroom functioning and examines the relations between student-perceived teacher autonomy support, agentic engagement, agentic defiance and intrinsic motivation in physical education lessons taught by pre-service teachers. We conceptualize agentic engagement as constructive and teacher-directed, and agentic defiance as assertive and task-directed. Data from 732 primary school students were collected across three weeks and analyzed using a two-wave latent cross-lagged panel model. Perceived autonomy support predicted higher agentic engagement and intrinsic motivation, and lower agentic defiance over time, whereas students' agentic actions did not predict later perceptions of autonomy support. We also report findings from an exploratory interaction analysis, which yielded marginally significant patterns. Together, these findings highlight teachers' role in shaping adaptive classroom functioning and suggest that students' agentic actions may require particularly supportive conditions to elicit changes in teaching practices. • Autonomy-supportive teaching increases agentic engagement and intrinsic motivation. • Autonomy support reduces agentic defiance, a task-directed form of agency. • Student agentic actions did not alter later perceptions of autonomy support. • Agentic engagement and agentic defiance differ in direction and classroom function. • Agentic actions may need highly supportive conditions to influence teaching.