Determining Education Faculty Students' Motivations Which Are Effective in the Choice of Profession and Field

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the motivations that are effective in teachers candidates' choosing the teaching profession and the field they study. In addition, it was aimed to examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that are effective in profession and field choices in terms of gender, year of study and the field of education.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was conducted with the relational screening model. The research population consisted of students studying at Inonu University, Faculty of Education. The sample was composed of students studying in Preschool Teaching, Turkish Language Teaching, Mathematics Teaching and Classroom Teaching departments at Inonu University Faculty of Education. Non-parametric tests were used because the data did not show normal distribution.
 Findings: It was determined that the motivation sources effective in teacher candidates' choice of profession and field of education were at the level of "Agree" in the intrinsic field, intrinsic profession, extrinsic profession dimensions and throughout the scale, while they were at the level of "Partially Agree" in the extrinsic field dimension. Differences were found in terms of gender in the intrinsic and extrinsic profession and the extrinsic field subdimensions. No difference was found in terms of motivations that are effective in choosing a profession and field according to year of study. Differences were found in terms of the department of study.
 Highlights: The motivation of teacher candidates to choose their profession and the field of education is mostly intrinsic. This situation is promising in terms of the future of education and the teaching profession in Turkey. However, it was observed that besides intrinsic motivation sources, a certain level of extrinsic motivation sources were also effective.