Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, the current study analysed the relationship between teachers’ perceived autonomy support and work engagement while it also explored the mediating effect of basic psychological need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation. The study investigated 520 elementary teachers in Beijing, and we found the following: (1) teachers in different groups reported diverse senses of perceived autonomy support, in that teachers with less teaching experience as well as those with a master’s degree have a higher score regarding the perceptions of teacher autonomy; and (2) teacher autonomy can affect work engagement not only in terms of the satisfaction of basic psychological needs but also by the chain of satisfaction of basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation. Teachers with more autonomy support will have higher basic psychological need satisfaction and stronger teaching motivation, which will further enhance their work engagement.

Most of the current studies on autonomy support are simply focused on the influence of teacher behavior on the students' academic results, there are few studies have explored the influence of the autonomous-supportive teaching environment on the students, teachers and even the school entirely.Accordingly, this study takes the teachers and students as the research object, and uses MSEM to explore the complex mechanism of the autonomy-supportive teaching environment on students' academic performance. The results show that the satisfying of both teachers' and students' basic autonomy needs can enhance teachers' and students' motivation, and ultimately directly or indirectly influence the students' academic performance. School administrators should give teachers sufficient teaching autonomy, encourage teachers to give students more autonomy support.

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