Motivations and Aspirations of Teacher Education Students in Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesian teachers earn low salaries compared with the national income (Jalal et al., 2009) – much less than other professionals such as engineers, accountants, lawyers, medical doctors, and much less than teachers in neighbouring countries (OECD, 2012). The main question in this study was: What attracts students to enter teacher education in this context? This chapter examines findings from a study investigating 802 Indonesian students’ motivations for entering into teacher education, their perceptions about the teaching profession and career aspirations. The study is founded on the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice framework which has been applied in diverse cultural settings, and includes additional culturally specific motivation factors of religion, the possibility of having a second job, affordable tuition fee for teacher education, less competitive entrance, and less time for degree completion relative to other university degrees. The findings revealed that religion was an important influence in Indonesia among future teachers; religious influences were rated higher than other motivations except for make social contribution, prior teaching and learning experiences, work with children/adolescents and intrinsic value.