Student Teachers’ Expectations of Teaching as a Career Choice in South Africa (Part I)

Abstract

Attracting and retaining competent teachers is a key concern for many countries throughout the world. Research on student teachers' expectations of teaching as a career choice may help unravel the reasons underlying problems related to teacher recruitment and teacher retention, mainly in South African schools. This study explored the expectations held by first-year student teachers who had enrolled for the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree at the University of South Africa (UNISA). A sample of 700 students from three BEd programmes completed a questionnaire. The student teachers who participated in this research were selected by i dentifying a module course that cuts across the three BEd programmes offered in the Teacher Education Department of Unisa. One implication of the study reported in this article is the importance of looking closely at the nature of induction programmes in schools and how they relate to student teachers' initial expectations about teaching.