Turkish student teachers’ attitudes toward teaching in university-based and alternative certification programs in Turkey

Abstract

The objective of this study is to comparatively analyze the university-based and alternative teacher certification systems in Turkey in terms of the attitudes of trainee teachers toward the teaching profession, explore the reasons of choosing teaching as a career as well as analyze attitudes by gender, department, and graduating faculty type in the frame of dominant ideological and economical paradigms. For the study, rational screening model was used, employing mixed methods research strategy. Participants in the study were 208 trainee teachers from the departments at the faculty of educational sciences and 200 trainee teachers at alternative certification programs at the same university. As a result of this research, it was found that university-based trainee teachers have better attitudes than trainee teachers of alternative certification programs toward the teaching profession and that female trainee teachers in both groups had better attitudes toward the teaching profession. Further, it was found that university-based trainee teachers utilized intrinsic motivators more, whereas trainees at alternative certification programs mainly utilized extrinsic motivators for career choice. Thus, intrinsic motivations of student teachers need to be strengthened as without realizing and emphasizing the divine values and the respectability of the teaching profession, it would be impossible to raise a new generation of teachers with high levels of intrinsic motivation, and the result could be having an army of technicians aiming to earn more money or have a more comfortable life rather than intellectuals who believe in contributing to and making a change in the lives of students.