Beyond Quality Features,Toward Teacher Needs: Unpacking How Professional Development Quality Relates to Teacher Engagement Through Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

While the features of high-quality professional development (PD) have been well-explored, some feature-based PD programs yielded inconsistent teacher engagement, prompting investigations into how these features relate to teacher engagement. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, this study collected data from 985 German in-service teachers to examine basic psychological needs (BPN) as a mediator between perceived PD quality and teacher engagement. Using both variable-centered and person-centered approaches, we (a) tested whether BPN mediates this relationship, (b) identified teachers’ perceived PD quality profiles, and (c) explored whether this mediation varies across profiles. Latent profile analysis identified four profiles: High-Quality Balanced, Moderate-Quality Weak-Collaboration, Moderate-Quality Strong-Collaboration, and Low-Quality Strong-Collaboration. Both variable-centered and person-centered mediation analyses revealed that BPN consistently mediated the relationship between PD quality and engagement, with no significant differences in the BPN-engagement pathway across all profiles. These findings suggest a shift from merely including features toward designing them in ways that support teachers’ psychological needs.