Students' motivations to become teachers: FIT-Choice findings from Indonesia

Abstract

The motivations for undertaking teacher education and perceptions about the teaching profession were examined among 802 fourth-year undergraduate teacher education students at two public and two private universities in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia (M = 21, SD = 2.31, 83.16% women). Following translations and piloting, participants completed the factors influencing teaching choice scale (FIT-Choice; Watt and Richardson, 2007) with culturally relevant factors added for: religious influences, second job (time for casual work), tuition fee for teacher education (cheaper), admission into teacher education (less competitive), time for teacher education studies (shorter) and media dissuasion. The extended scale proved valid and reliable with some modifications (e.g., item teaching qualification modified into teaching certification). Social utility values, prior teaching and learning experiences, intrinsic career value and religious influences were the main motivations for choosing teacher education, followed by secure progression prospects and 'second job'. Choosing teacher education as a fallback career was lowest rated, and correlated positively with all teacher education factors. Teaching was perceived as a highly expert career, with high social status.