5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan

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competent are more likely to have positive affect towards competence and to show
intrinsic motivational behaviour such as mastery learning, curiosity and seeking
challenge (Harter et al., 1984). Bandura (1997) argues that pupils’ efficacy beliefs
promote their motivation, and promoted motivation produces actions such as strategic
thinking, and in turn, contributes to accomplishment (Bandura, et al., 1981; Collins,
1982; Bouffard-Bouchard, 1990; Bouffard-Bouchard, et al., 1991). Self-verbalisation of
competence, and social feedback on competence (Pretty et al., 1984, Sagotsky et al.,
1978) enhance pupils’ efficacy beliefs, intrinsic motivation and interest.

Pupils’ intrinsic motivation has been reported to affect their perceptions of their
competence. Thus, pupils’ motivation and those perceptions are mutually related.
Children, who perceive autonomy in a classroom and are intrinsically motivated, tend to
perceive themselves as having high competence and high self-esteem (Deci et al. 1981)
and high achievement (Perlmutter et al., 1977; Sadowski et al., 1981). Controlling
conditions reduce pupils’ intrinsic motivation and lead to low-quality learning outcomes
such as poor conceptual learning (Grolnick, et al., 1987), inflexible thinking (McGraw et
al., 1979), and low levels of creativity (Amabile, 1983). Kage (1991, cited in Deci, 1994)
found that Japanese junior high school students in a controlling evaluative condition
expressed less interest in the material, rated themselves as less competent, and
reported greater anxiety than students in an autonomy-supportive condition. Valuing
pupils’ autonomy is important to promote both motivation and perceptions of their own
competence.

The relationship between pupils’ enjoyment, motivation, sense of security and
perception Oftheirown competence

The Ministry of Education in Japan (1999) has suggested that when pupils perceive
themselves as ∞mpetent this not only promotes their motivation but also decreases
their anxiety in mathematics learning. Harter’s (1981) model postulates that students’
sense of low competence and extrinsic motivation produces their anxiety. Meece et al.
(1990) argue that the degree of pupils’ anxiety in learning is determined by the effects of
past successes and failures on the pupil’s beliefs about their personal efficacy. Fennema
et al. (1976) found a strong negative correlation (r= - .89) between mathematics anxiety
and confidence scores. Bandura (1997) suggests that students’ perceived low self-
efficacy and their anxiety together reduce their performance, although the main cause of

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