Goal-orientation and teacher motivation among teacher applicants and student teachers
Introduction
Previous research has demonstrated that students who perceive their teachers as supportive of learning, themselves enjoy their studies, feel competent, set mastery goal-orientation and utilize adaptive study strategies (e.g., Ames, 1992; Roeser, Midgely, & Urdan, 1996; Skinner, Zimmer-Gembeck, & Connell, 1998), and that teachers who experience their actions as self-determined, i.e., are intrinsically motivated, have a higher sense of well-being, feel higher levels of collegial support, are less controlling and more supportive of their students’ autonomy, than teachers who experience that their actions are not self-determined, i.e., extrinsically motivated (e.g., Pelletier, Séguin-Lévesque, & Legault, 2002; Wild, Enzle, Nix, & Deci, 1997). However, we know less about how these teacher characteristics may be distinguished among applicants to teacher education and how the characteristics evolve during teacher studies. The present study investigates how teacher applicants’ and student teachers’ goal-orientation for their studies, is related to their perception of themselves as motivated professionals, and whether goal-orientation and teacher motivation are related to previous achievement and entrance exam scores. The present studies expand previous studies of teacher development in three ways. Firstly, while quite extensive research has been conducted on teachers’ self-efficacy (e.g., Tschannen-Moran, & Hoy, 2001), teachers’ motivation has received less attention (e.g., Brookhart & Freeman, 1992; Pelletier et al., 2002). Second, while the antecedents and outcomes of achievement motivation and self-determination are well documented (e.g., Elliot, 1999; Ryan & Deci, 2000), these have not previously been applied to teacher studies. Third, while the beneficial effects of teacher's intrinsic motivation and engagement in their students have been shown (e.g., Pelletier et al., 2002; Skinner et al., 1998), we know less about how such teacher characteristics evolve prior to working life experiences of teachers. In light of some previous studies (Brookhart & Freeman, 1992; Pajares, 1992) in which those who study to be teachers have found it difficult to disengage from their own experiences as students, the aim of the present article, in short, is to investigate whether “teachers want to teach as they learn” and during teacher studies “learn as they wish to teach”.
Section snippets
Achievement motivation
Elliot (1999) defined achievement motivation as the energization and direction of competence-based affect, cognition and behavior. While the organismic basis of achievement motivation distinguishes between need of success and fear of failure (cf. Atkinson, 1964; White, 1959), goal theory and goal-orientation theory posits that humans set up goals, which are available at the level of consciousness, and are transformed into action, when the context is conducive towards need fulfillment (Elliot,
Self-determination theory and teacher motivation
According to self-determination theory individuals strive to satisfy three basic organismic needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan, 1995; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Ryan, Sheldon, Kasser, & Deci, 1996). The satisfaction of these needs may take place in contexts that are perceived as conducive towards its expression. In such a context individuals perceive that their actions are self-regulated, volitional and internally caused, rather than other-regulated, enforced and externally caused (Ryan,
The carry-over hypothesis
The carry-over hypothesis, suggesting that one's achievement motivation would be predictive of one's motivation to teach, was put forth on the basis of two streams of research. It has been suggested that, on the one hand, the long experience of own studies as a preparation for teacher studies makes it difficult for student teachers to disentangle from previous learning experiences when becoming a teacher (Pajares, 1992). On the other hand, studies have shown that student teachers might be quite
Finnish and Finland-Swedish teachers
There is no study, to the best of my knowledge, that has investigated Finnish1
Selection into teacher education
The selection of trainees into teacher education2 in Finland has historically been based on assessments of whether the candidate represented a number of personal virtues and attributes. The
Research questions for Study 1
Two studies were conducted, the first one among applicants to a department of teacher education in Finland, and the second among student teachers in that same department. Both empirical studies herein were baseline studies (time 1) in a cross-sequential project (see Malmberg, Wanner, Nordmyr, & Little, 2004). In order to investigate to what extent “teachers want to teach as they learn”, the following research questions for Study 1 were put forth:
- (1)
How does goal-orientation for secondary school
Hypotheses for Study 1
(1a) Previous studies conducted within the academic domain have found study-mastery goals to predict intrinsic motivation for studies (Harackiewicz et al., 2000), and task-goals to predict self-regulation (Middleton & Midgely, 1997). In order to test whether one's own learning experience were related to making others learn in line with the carry-over hypothesis; setting mastery goals regarding one's own studies would be predictive of regarding one's future profession—making children learn—as
Sample
Data was collected by questionnaires among applicants to the Department of Teacher Education at Åbo Akademi University, (Vaasa/Vasa) Finland. In spring 2001, 303 persons applied for teacher studies in four areas of specialization (handicrafts,3 home economics, primary school teaching and special education teaching) at the Department of Teacher Education (Faculty of Education, 1997–2001).
Research questions and hypotheses in Study 2
In Study 2 it was investigated whether teacher motivation would form a basis for goal-setting during teacher studies, i.e., whether student teachers themselves “learn as they wish to teach”. As an expansion of the carry-over hypothesis, it was expected that, once in teacher studies, teacher motivation would predict goal-orientation.
- (1)
How does teacher motivation predict goal-orientation for teacher studies?
- (2)
How do entrance exam scores and previous achievements predict teacher motivation and
Discussion
The present studies investigated, firstly, how student teacher applicants’ (Study 1) and student teachers’ (Study 2) goal-orientation and teacher motivation were interrelated, and second, to what extent entrance scores and previous achievement were related to goal-orientation and teacher motivation. The studies expanded previous studies on teacher motivation in three ways: going beyond pervious studies on teachers’ self-efficacy; merging and applying the concepts of achievement motivation and
Conclusion
The present study investigated the relationships between teacher applicants’ and student teachers’ goal-orientation and motivation for the teaching profession, in short a reply to the question: “do teachers want to teach as they learn?”. The present studies found support for the carry-over hypothesis suggesting that teacher applicants’ previous experiences of education are related to their perceptions of what the future teacher profession might be like, mastery goals—studying for the sake
Acknowledgments
I am thankful to all collaborators in the “Development of teachers’ action control project”: Ann-May Nordmyr, Ria Heilä-Ylikallio, Therese Backlund-Smulter (Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Education, at Åbo Akademi University, in Vasa, Finland), Todd D. Little (Kansas University, USA) and Brigitte Wanner (University of Montreal, Canada). I thank Andrew Elliot and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. The author is indebted to the Faculty
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