Exploring the Relationships Among Preservice Teachers' Motivations for Teaching, Beliefs About Teaching, and Career Choice Satisfaction

• In Event: Understanding the Role of Teachers' Experience and Identity and Motivations

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on the relationship among teachers’ motivations to teach, beliefs/values about teaching, and satisfaction with the teaching choice from the perspective of 91 pre-service teachers, using the FIT-Choice scale. Results suggested that teachers’ beliefs about social status, teacher morale and good salary was positively associated with teachers’ motivations driven by personal utility value and social utility value, while teachers’ beliefs about task demand (i.e. expert career and high demand) was only significantly positively associated with teachers’ motivation driven by teachers’ social utility value.Teachers’ motivation driven by social utility value was positively associated with their satisfaction with choice. The results provide important implications for practical issues of teacher recruitment and retention.

Authors

• Wenting Wang, South China Normal University

• Wei Lin, Shenzhen Institute of Educational Science Research

• Ziyou Wang