Self-determination theory

INTRODUCTION: The Red Crescent Society (RCS), as a non-profit organization and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, engages in relief, humanitarian and public benefit activities, which are influenced by the nature of volunteerism. The purpose of this research is to evaluate and rank the career motivation of two groups of athletes and non-athletes volunteers of the IRCS. METHODS: In this applied survey, data were collected based on Self-Determination Theory framework through a standard questionnaire with stratified random sampling. Due to the Coronavirus situation in the country, questionnaires were sent online to 30,000 young members of the RCS Youth Organization throughout the country which 2815 questionnaires were answered. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods and SPSS-26 software. FINDINGS: According to the findings, the career motivation components of the volunteers in the non-athlete group in order of prioritization are as follows: extrinsic (identified regulation), intrinsic; external (introjected regulation, integrated regulation and externalized regulation) and in the athlete group in order of prioritization is such as: intrinsic motivation; extrinsic (identified regulation); external (introjected regulation, integrated regulation and externalized regulation). CONCLUSION: According to the results, it can be stated that there is a significant difference in the ranking of voluntary career motivation components between athletes and non-athletes volunteer members of the RCS. On this basis, the RCS must have a proper understanding of the difference in the motivational components of people of different age, cultural, gender, etc., in order to improve the level of its social capital.

Learner autonomy as both an individual as well as a social concept is considered to be a vital element in language learning. Moreover, enhancing learner autonomy has been a main concern among language learning scholars. Because of this primacy, this study in two phases, first sought to examine the desirability and feasibility of learner autonomy from teachers' perspective, and then sought to study the effectiveness of training on enhancing teachers' autonomy-supportive behaviors. Seventy-two Iranian EFL teachers' views were collected via an autonomy questionnaire developed by Borg and Al-Busaidi (2012). The results indicated that the teachers conceived autonomy to be more desirable than feasible. They considered autonomy as an ideal optional rather than an accessible purpose. Furthermore, classroom observations indicated that training in workshops that were based on self-determination theory (SDT) enhanced teachers' autonomy-supportive behaviors. Trained teachers outperformed untrained teachers in almost all criteria in the ASBI checklist. The study has implications for EFL teachers and teacher educators. The contribution SDT can have on autonomy enhancement indicates its significance and potential to be accentuated in instructional programs as well as pre-service and in-service training sessions.