Abstract
The paper presents the challenges of cross-country and cross-cultural research on the motivation to become a mathematics teacher based on data from the “Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M)”. Referring to studies from cross-cultural psychology, measurement invariance (MI) of constructs representing different motivations to become a teacher was examined in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) across the countries that participated in TEDS-M. The data supported metric invariance which means that comparing relationships between motivation and other constructs across countries is permitted, with the exception of extrinsic motivation in Taiwan. Scalar invariance was not supported by the data across countries but across cultures: Scale means can be compared between Germany, Switzerland and (with regard to intrinsic motivation) Norway and Poland as well as between Singapore and Taiwan (with regard to the intrinsic motivation) and Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand (again regarding intrinsic motivation).
Highlights
Many countries face difficulties in recruiting teaching candidates for mathematics
The paper presents the challenges of cross-country and cross-cultural research on the motivation to become a mathematics teacher based on data from the “Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M)”
Study objectives/research purpose The present study examines whether the instruments applied in TEDS-M to assess future mathematics teachers’ job motivation could be used to construct cross-country equivalent motivation scales
Summary
Many countries face difficulties in recruiting teaching candidates for mathematics. To learn what motivates teacher candidates to go into teaching can be useful from a policy perspective. The largest comparative study that provides information about mathematics future teachers’ job motivation is available from the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M; Tatto et al 2008). Based on these data, we are for the first time able to examine research questions related to this construct across countries. For that reason, testing for different levels of equivalence of scales is required before relating motivation to teach to other constructs or even to compare scale means, in order to avoid inappropriate use of data across different groups
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