Pre-service Teachers’ Motivational Factors Affecting Their Teaching Profession and Field Choices

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the impacts of internal and external motivational factors influencing pre-service teachers’ teaching profession and field choices based on their views. The sample of this descriptive study comprised of 449 freshmen studying at teacher education programs of Education Faculty, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. The data of the study were collected through the administration of Mayr’s (1998) “The Motivation Scale on Teaching Profession and Field Choice” adapted into Turkish by Atav and Altınoğlu (2013) to the sample in the fall of 2015–2016. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics, ttest, ANOVA and Tukey HSD test were employed. The findings of the study revealed that internal motivation factors were effective at high level on pre-service teachers’ teaching profession and field choices. External motivation factors were also found to be effective at a moderate level on pre-service teachers’ teaching profession and field choices. The results of the study imply that both motivation factors need to be taken
into account in teacher education and related issues.