Autonomous motivation of Omani early childhood pre-service teachers for teaching

Abstract

This study investigated the Omani early childhood pre-service teachers’ motivation for teaching. Specific attention was given to the levels of their autonomous motivation, including: (1) intrinsic motivation and (2) extrinsic motivation comprised of identified, introjected, and external motivations. In addition, the effects of age, cohort (grade level), and cumulative grade point average (CGPA) on their motivation for teaching were examined. Participants included 62 Omani early childhood pre-service teachers. A modified version of the Work Tasks Motivation Scale for Teachers was used as an instrument. The results suggested that the participants had higher intrinsic motivations than extrinsic motivations for teaching. Among their extrinsic motivations, ‘identified motivation’ was reported as the highest, followed by ‘external motivation’, and then ‘introjected motivation’. The results also revealed that participants’ age and cohort had significant effects on their introjected motivations. Implications were discussed and recommendations were made for future studies.