| While increased student autonomy has been found to increase student motivation, best practices for how much and how to increase autonomy are unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine high school student and teacher perceptions of autonomy support in the classroom. The second purpose of this study was to identify effective strategies to increase student motivation through increased autonomy.;Aside from adding to the body of research on self-determination theory (SDT), the results of this study can be used by high school educators and school districts looking to implement strategies for increasing student autonomy, which may lead to increased student engagement and motivation.;This study was conducted at a secondary public high school in the Chicago-land suburbs. A sequential mixed-method design was used. The data were collected in three phases. The participants varied for each of the phases of data collection. For the first phase, a questionnaire was administered to all 2,399 students and 146 tenured and non-tenured teachers at Norris High School (pseudonym). Three focus groups were used for the second phase of data collection; the participants consisted of 18 conveniently sampled students. For the third phase, teacher observation and interviews, four teachers were selected from a pool of nominees. These four teachers were identified by students and colleagues as having "an outstanding ability to motivate high school students on a daily basis.";The findings include effective practices for increasing autonomy and relatedness in the high school classroom. Effective practices identified by students and teachers include asking students about preferences, using humor and storytelling, soliciting student input when making decisions, allowing "detours" and "teachable moments," avoiding a controlling use of incentives, and focusing on learning rather than discipline. In some cases, it is not what teachers need to do, but rather what teachers should stop doing. The overarching message from both students and teachers was not for teachers to do more. On the contrary, in order to increase student engagement and motivation, teachers may need to "pull back" and look for ways to hand some control over to their students. |
