Pre-Service Primary School Teachers' Motivations for Choosing The Teaching Profession and Their Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Science Teaching

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 58 - 71, 30.12.2022

Bahattin Deniz Altunoğlu , Mehmet Altan Kurnaz , Steven Sexton

Abstract

In the literature, pre-service primary school teachers’ low levels of self-efficacy in science and science teaching are frequently expressed. Self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers have a major role in future teaching practices and have a reciprocal interaction with their motivational beliefs. This study researched pre-service teachers’ motivation to choose the teaching profession and their science teaching self-efficacy. Participants consisted of 181 pre-service primary teachers at a university in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey. The ‘Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument’ (STEBI-B) and the ‘Motivation Scale for Profession and Field Selection’(MSTPFC) were used for this research. The study was conducted in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years. The results indicate that intrinsic motivation correlated positively to the student’s proficiency perception in their own science teaching. The study has shown how these characteristics positively contribute to the preparation of primary teacher candidates' competencies in terms of self-sufficiency, motivation, self-confidence, interest, need, and belief.

Keywords

Primary Teacher Education, Career Motivation, Self-Efficacy, Science Teaching

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