“A Passion and Enthusiasm to Bring out the Best in All”: Regional Candidate Teacher Motivations

Abstract

In this study the career motivations and values of regional candidate teachers are investigated using a mixed methodology. Expectancy-value theory (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) supports the understanding of motivations through the use of four key value categories: interest, utility, attainment and cost. A total of 135 preservice teachers were surveyed using a modified survey instrument. This study addresses a gap in career motivational literature by exploring the motivations of regional teacher candidates. Current research indicates that quality staffing in Australian regional schools remains a significant concern. Findings indicated that candidates' motivations tended to be aspirational, yet there also exist strong pragmatic imperatives for choosing teaching. Career motivations were aligned to job opportunities in local communities, as well as the desire for social contribution. The findings have implications for university programs in terms of developing teacher agency and supporting career pathways.

The Application of Career Theories in Teachers' Professional Development and Career Decision: A Literature Review

“…According to Fessler [24], teachers move through those developmental stages not necessarily in a pre-determined trajectory or predictable chronological sequence. Instead, it is a dynamic manner reflecting responses to personal and organizational environmental factors [43]. This model makes such a dynamic manner possible because it has incorporated theories in social psychology, human development, and management [44,45].…”

“…Moreover, career motivation is also a concept mentioned while discussing the psychological factors influencing teachers' careers' choices, and they are presented as a myriad of interpretations based in contexts [88]. Some researchers [43,76,[89][90][91][92] have identified motivation as a key indicator of categorizing teachers' professional development into different stages and addressed motivations are complex and often influenced by external conditions and contexts, for example, socialization and previous experiences. Fluctuation in a teacher's motivation may lead to a theacher's perceiving his failure or success and hence influences his decision on retainment or career change [20,27].…”

Self-efficacy of Immigrant Teachers in Australia: A Literature Review

“…This finding was supported by other researches which identified some hurdles immigrant teachers were facing, including bureaucratic red tape, racism and discrimination, inadequate classroom support and a discrepancy between classroom practice and management [3,[5][6][7]. Secondly, some other scholars [8,17] suggested motivation is key for teachers choosing to work in the teaching profession, particularly in regional areas. This finding was supported by some researches which also mentioned motivation and emotions influence teachers' optimistic and pessimistic anticipation of continuing their teaching career at a new home [2,4,[8][9][10][11].…”

“…These current data on immigrant teachers' professional development indicated that their findings were based on examing teachers' personal experiences [3,5,6,[8][9][10][11][12]. A number of scholars and researchers in education [3,5,6,8] have been looking into teachers' contextual experiences, but they used different themes to categorise factors influencing teachers' career choices. For example, some studies [3,6,9] categorised immigrant teachers' experiences into pre and post immigration stages while another previous study [5] looked into their experience in classroom, community, and Education Departments.…”

“…Some researchers [8,10,12,14] then later have put in effort in examining the relationship between immigrant teachers' understanding of their personal experiences and these problems. Firstly, a previous study [14] suggested that immigrant teachers' personal experiences, feelings and impacts of other people are related to their negative attitude towards gate-keeping tests.…”