The View of Student Teachers on the Teacher’s Profession

Petra Trávníčková

doi:10.2478/atd-2021-0019

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: In recent years, teaching is no longer perceived only as a job, but as a profession. The study focuses on student’s view on the teacher’s profession, which is important in the context of becoming a teacher. During their university studies, student teachers are at the beginning of their professional careers. Their attitudes, values and principles are still evolving. Methods: Building on previous studies, qualitative methodology was applied. The main goals of the research were to describe the changing views of student teachers on the teacher’s profession, and to compare their views in the first and third years of study. Therefore, thematic writing was chosen. Results: The results show that the student teacher’s views change significantly during their university studies. While in the first year, student teachers focus more on the importance of childhood, their own practical experience and the teacher’s influence on a child’s life; in the last year of bachelor´s study, the emphasis is on the teacher’s personality, teaching professionalism and on the teacher as a learner can be observed. This paper can provide evidence that university education for kindergarten teachers is important and it most likely influences their future work. Discussion: The research findings show that it is appropriate to pay attention to how views about the teacher’s profession change. This could broaden the view of the development of the teacher profession concept and could also be a useful tool for modifying the content of future teachers’ education. Limitations: A certain limit of research can be sen in using one method. It would certainly be appropriate to supplement the research with interviews with participants. In my future research I will focus on this issue. Conclusion: 1. The student teachers’ views change significantly during their university studies, 2. The focus moves from their practical experience to the didactic theory. 3. There is a shift from focusing on personality of teachers to their abilities.

Highlights

In recent years, teaching is no longer perceived only as a job, but as a profession
For better understanding of the reader, in the Czech Republic with a kindergarten teacher can be (Wiegerová & Gavora, 2014): - a graduate of a secondary vocational school focusing on the training of kindergarten teachers; - a graduate of higher vocational education focused on kindergarten teacher training; - a graduate of a lifelong learning program organized by a university or a school focusing on the training of kindergarten teachers; - a graduate of a university that has accredited study programs focused on the preparation of teachers for kindergartens
They were given the task to write an essay on the topic: What makes a good kindergarten teacher? The scope of thematic writing was not limited, but participants had a restriction on time - one hour

Summary

Introduction

The study focuses on student’s view on the teacher’s profession, which is important in the context of becoming a teacher During their university studies, student teachers are at the beginning of their professional careers. Their attitudes, values and principles are still evolving In this context, research has been conducted with these students, which reflects changes in the view of didactic strategies in teaching (McDonald, 2016), changes in the view of themselves as a teacher (Lukášová, 2015) and maps changes in the context of motivation to choose and stay in the profession (Wiegerová & Gavora, 2014). Mintz (2020) measured how the attitude, knowledge and self-efficacy change between the pre-service and novice teacher year This paper demonstrates qualitative research and the data analysis brings evidence that change in the view of the teaching profession is a significant factor

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion