“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”: A tale of motivational-affective aspects of teaching during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia

In order to shed light on the intrapersonal mechanisms that underlie the teaching in the blended learning environment, which implies the integration of complementary face-to-face and online approaches, we focused on the relationship between teachers? self-efficacy and motivation for teaching, with reference to the mediating role of teachers? emotional experiences. The sample included 341 subject teachers from Serbian primary schools, who use the blended learning model in teaching (84% female; average age 43.97years). The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, Emotions in Teaching Inventory -Revised, and Autonomous Motivation for Teaching Scale were used to examine the variables of interest. The overall fit of the mediated model to the data was adequate, confirming the mediating role of teachers? emotions in the relationship between the studied motivational constructs. The results indicate that the motivation for teaching in a blended learning environment relies on self-efficacy in instructional strategies and self-efficacy in classroom management, which partially act through the emotions concerning the experience of tension.