Ten tips for supporting clinical teachers’ motivation to teach: A self-determination theory perspective

Orsini, Cesar and Neufeld, Adam (2025) Ten tips for supporting clinical teachers’ motivation to teach: A self-determination theory perspective. Canadian Family Physician. ISSN 0008-350X (In Press)

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Abstract

Clinical teachers are vital to Family Medicine and Health Professions Education, yet their motivation to teach is challenged by competing clinical, administrative, and educational demands. Drawing on our recent Best Evidence in Medical Education (BEME) systematic review and guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this paper offers ten practical tips to sustain and strengthen clinical teachers’ motivation. These tips address three domains: understanding and valuing motivation, creating supportive work environments, and enabling and sustaining autonomous motivation. They highlight influences from above (institutional systems, leadership, societal pressures), within (teachers’ values, identity, and purpose), and below (learner engagement and feedback). Strategies include recognising multi-level influences, involving teachers in curricular design, protecting time, reducing hindrance job demands, investing in professional development, affirming meaning and purpose, fostering continuity, engaging learners as partners, ensuring fair evaluation, and tailoring support to diverse motivational profiles. Collectively, these approaches create conditions that support autonomy, competence, and relatedness, enhancing teacher engagement, satisfaction, and sustainability.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2025 14:30
Last Modified:	06 Oct 2025 14:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100653
DOI:	issn:0008-350X

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