Action-Focused Reasons for Teaching Explain Differences in Who Stays Committed

• In Event: 52.085 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: 52.085-2 - Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session 2

Abstract

We sought to explain why only some prospective educators embrace a readiness to address justice, work conscientiously, and accept responsibility for their learning. The intentions of students (n=210; 69 males) attending a teacher education program that prepares candidates for leadership in a large urban school district were depicted by assessing their beliefs, goals, and action readiness. Notable individual differences were apparent in the complex relations between students' civil identities, action readiness, and ideal school beliefs. Subsequent pre- and posttest comparisons revealed the malleability of pre-service teachers' intention to remain action-oriented, yet stability in their ideal school beliefs. Programs emphasizing only how to teach are less likely to produce higher quality outcomes than programs focusing on what to teach and why.

Authors

• Persis Driver, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Theresa A. Thorkildsen, University of Illinois at Chicago