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Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

Abstract

This study critically examines the Hierarchical Model of Inspirational Teaching (Rowcliffe, 2022), a conceptual framework proposing that pedagogical competence, student-teacher relationships, and teacher passion are associated with student intrinsic motivation. Although the model has previously been presented conceptually, it has not been subjected to quantitative scrutiny.

Data were collected from 369 students and 33 teachers across two international post-16 schools. Student questionnaires assessed perceptions of student-teacher relationships, teacher passion, and intrinsic motivation, while teacher questionnaires examined burnout. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine construct structure, followed by correlation, regression, and mediation analyses to explore relationships among variables.

Findings indicated that student-teacher relationships were bidimensional, comprising personableness and caring/fairness. Personableness was a stronger predictor of intrinsic motivation than caring/fairness when entered alongside other variables. Perceived teacher passion was positively associated with intrinsic motivation and partially mediated the relationship between personableness and motivation. As the model would predict, when perceived passion exceeded relational connection, motivation was lower. However, results also complicated the proposed hierarchy: substantial overlap between relationship quality and passion suggested these constructs may be less sequential and more mutually reinforcing than the HIT model assumes.

Teacher burnout was negatively associated with student perceptions of caring/fairness, highlighting the institutional conditions that may constrain inspirational teaching.

Overall, the findings offer partial support for elements of the HIT model, while indicating the need for a less linear and more relationally dynamic framework of inspirational teaching.

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