Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Teacher Education on
Motivation, Commitment, and Self Efficacy
Hashmi, Muhammad Aamir; Shaikh, Faiz M.New Horizons 5. 2 (Jul 2011): 54-58.
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Abstract (summary)
The main objective of the study was to ascertain the effect of teacher education program
on motivation, commitment, self-efficacy, and inclusion of student teachers. Four different
scales were used for this purpose. Ninety eight (98) student-teachers from the Institute of
Education and Research, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, provided the data at
two different junctures: prior to joining the institution and after completing the test
semester degree program. Statistical analysis of the data utilized the t-test to determine
statistical significance. It was found that student teachers were too motivated during the
two-year program, while self efficacy and commitment to pursue a teaching career
increased. The paper concludes with recommendations for educators wishing to enhance
the recruitment, retention, and engagement of students in teacher education.
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Abstract
The main objective of the study was to ascertain the effect of teacher education program
on motivation, commitment, self-efficacy, and inclusion of student teachers. Four different
scales were used for this purpose. Ninety eight (98) student-teachers from the Institute of
Education and Research, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, provided the data at
two different junctures: prior to joining the institution and after completing the test
semester degree program. Statistical analysis of the data utilized the t-test to determine
statistical significance. It was found that student teachers were too motivated during the
two-year program, while self efficacy and commitment to pursue a teaching career
increased. The paper concludes with recommendations for educators wishing to enhance
the recruitment, retention, and engagement of students in teacher education.
Key words: Motivation, commitment, self-efficiency, t-test.
Introduction
Schools have been recognized as institutions that play an important role in influencing the
present and future behaviors of young people (Teddlie & Reynolds, 2001). Teachers have
been referred to as "change makers in school" and "the fundamental agent in school health
programs" (Fullan, 1999; St Leger, 1998, 2000)Intrinsic motivation has been defined as
performing behaviors out of interest, pleasure, and enjoyment (Deci & Ryan, 1985;
Vallerand & Ratelle, 2002). Level of effort would playa differential role in the motivation.
The issue of teacher motivation and resilience is key internationally, given the high
incidence of attrition from the teaching profession: In the USA up to 46% of beginning
teachers leave the profession within five years of qualification (Ingersoll, 2004). While the
picture from Europe is less clear and varies from one country to another, there is a high
level of teacher attrition among the newly qualified in many countries including the UK
(OECD, 1991; Smithers, 1990; Spear et al., 2000). Self-determination has been
demonstrated to be strongly correlated with various measures of the subjective experience
of intrinsic motivation (i.e., interest, flow experiences, personal expressiveness) in
previous studies (Schwartz & Waterman, 2005; Waterman et al., 2003)Bandura (1977), in
his theory of social learning, pioneered the view that beliefs are intimately associated with
behavior. He defined self-efficacy beliefs as "People's judgments of their capabilities to
organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of
performances" Bandura (1986, p. 391). Subsequently, selfefficacy has been associated
with successful teaching (Tobin, Tippins, & Gallard, 1994), and it has been suggested that
knowing and working to increase teachers' self- efficacie s could be a strategy to empower
teachers to work better, even in deficient circumstances (Roberts, Henson, Tharp, &
Moreno, 2001). Ford (1992) included self-efficacy as part of the personal capabilities that
motivate people, including teachers, to achieve and perform competently. His clarification
of human motivation includes goals, emotions, and both context and capacity (selfefficacy)
beliefs. He suggested that capacity beliefs are related to personal skills and selfperceptions of those skills, and context beliefs are shaped by responsive environments.
Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997) also argued that personal 26 capability beliefs depend upon a
specific context and environment, in response to the promise of using these personal
motivation variables to better understand and potentially influence lies teacher success.
Methods
Participants, Instrumentation and Procedure
Ninety eight (98) student-teachers completed the validated, reliable survey instrument.
Motivational orientations to teach survey (MoT-S) (Sinclair, Dowson & Melnerney, 2006) on
the two occasions, once at the beginning of semester of their courses and again at the end
of the semester, the data was collected from M.S.Ed, MTE, MERA and M.A Secondary
Education, MoT-S comprised 80 items measuring motivation to teach. Teachers' sense of
self efficacy scale comprised 25 items. There were 8 items in questionnaire related to
commitment to teaching. Teacher retention comprised 86 questions. MoT-S used both
open ended questions and Likert type scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree, to 5
(strongly agreed). Teacher's sense of efficacy scale used 9 point scale (from nothing to a
great deal).
Results and Discussion
Mean, standard deviation and t-test were calculated to find the difference in teachers'
motivation, teachers' self-efficacy, and teacher's retention. Percentage was calculated for
commitment to pursue a teaching career.
The calculated value is greater than table value which shows that null hypothesis is
rejected. The value of mean is greater at the joining (beginning of 1st semester) as
compare to the end of 1st semester (beginning of 2nd semester). The higher mean value
indicates that the students were much motivated in the beginning of the semester.
The calculated value is greater than table value which indicates the rejection of null
hypothesis. The mean value is less in the beginning of 1st semester as compared to the
beginning of 2nd semester. The higher value of mean at the beginning of second semester
indicates the increase of self-efficacy in student teachers.
Calculated value oft is greater than table value which indicates the rejection of null
hypothesis. The mean value is less in the beginning of 1st semester as compared to
beginning of 2nd semester. The greater mean indicates the intention of the students
towards retention.
The mean value is greater than 3.0 which is indicates that the students teacher encourage
other to become a teacher.
Only 35.2% student teachers are not interested to pursue a teaching career after
completing the degree.
This study has demonstrated that people are not attracted to teaching because of its
status. While, most motivations are statistically stable over the first semester, initial
teacher education course work does exert some effect on motivation to teacher. It seems
that student- teachers start with motivational expectations of what teaching involves and
why they want to be a teacher (i.e. entry motivation to teach). Initial teacher education
acts to 'filter'. These motivations as student-teachers access and re -acce ss their entry
motivation in the light of the reality being experienced at university. Both intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation can act as motivators or demotivators when there is a match between
motivation (motivational expectation) and reality experienced at the university, current
levels of motivation are decreased. It can be difficult to attract individuals to teaching
when there are so many other employment choices for individuals, and with increasing
demanding working condition for teachers (e.g. less job security to pay and prestige;
limited career opportunities'.; and increased hours of work, work complexity and intensity
and accountability for student success or failure (Aronsson, Gustafsson & Dallner, 2002;
Johnson & Birkeland, 2002; Johnson & Landman, 2000; Kittel & Leynen, 2003; Malloy &
Wohlstetter, 2003; OECD, 2005; Ramsay, 2000; Roulston, 2004).
However, while primarily intrinsically motivation extrinsic motivations do play a part in
attracting individuals to teaching (especially the nature of teaching work, working condition
and life fit) so intrinsic motivations should not be ignored in any recruitment strategies
employed. In order to maximize the attractiveness of initial teacher education course, it is
recommended that these courses be marketed so as to appeal to the range of motivations
that attract individuals to teaching as a profession (i.e. both their intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation to teach).
Finally, assessment measures of initial motivation to teach (such as MoT-S) may help
attract and retain suitably motivated student teachers. These are student teachers who will
be strongly committed to teaching, rather than entering teaching by default, be better able
to sustain their motivation throughout the rigors of university study and be capable of
meeting the increasing demands being made on today's teacher. Thus, it is of the utmost
importance to ensure that initial teacher's education at University is of the highest quality.
References
References
Bandura, A. (1977). S elf- efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.
Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory
(pp. 390-454). Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice -Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Ford, M. E. (1992). Motivating Humans: Goals, emotions, and personal agency beliefs.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Fullan, M. (I 999). Change force - the sequel. Philadelphia, PA: F aimer Press.
Roberts, J. K., Henson, R. K., Tharp, B. Z., & Moreno, N. P. (2001). An examination of
change in teacher self- efficacy beliefs in science education based on the duration of
inservice activities. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 12, 199-213.
St Leger, L. (1998). Australian teachers' understanding of the health promoting school
concept and the implications for the development of school health. Health Promotion
International, 13(3), 223-234.
St Leger, L. (2000). Reducing the barriers to the expansion of health-promoting schools by
focusing on teachers. Health Education, 100(2), 81-87.
Teddlie, C, & Reynolds, D. (2001). The international handbook of school effectiveness
research (1st ed.). New York: F aimer Press.
Tobin, K., Tippins, D. J., & Gallard, A. J. (1994). Research on instructional strategies for
teaching science. In D. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Science
AuthorAffiliation
Muhammad Aamir Hashmi*
Faiz. M. Sh aikh**
AuthorAffiliation
* Assistant Professor, IER-University of the Punjab-Lahore
** Assistant Professor, SZABA C-Dokri-Larkana-Sin dh -Pakistan
Copyright AsiaNet Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd. Jul 2011
Word count: 1474
Indexing (details)
Cite
CloseSubject
Student teachers;
Standard deviation;
Teaching;
Behavior;
Working conditions;
Teacher education
Title
Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Teacher Education on Motivation, Commitment, and
Self Efficacy
Author
Hashmi, Muhammad Aamir; Shaikh, Faiz M
Publication title
New Horizons
Volume
5
Issue
2
Pages
54-58
Number of pages
5
Publication year
2011
Publication date
Jul 2011
Year
2011
Publisher
AsiaNet Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd.
Place of publication
Karachi
Country of publication
Pakistan
Journal subject
Social Sciences: Comprehensive Works
ISSN
19924399
Source type
Scholarly Journals
Language of publication
English
Document type
Feature
Document feature
Tables;References
Subfile
Teaching, Student teachers, Teacher education, Standard deviation, Behavior, Working
conditions
ProQuest document ID
912671034
Document URL
http://search.proquest.com/docview/912671034?accountid=45993
Copyright
Copyright AsiaNet Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd. Jul 2011
Last updated
2011-12-26
Database
ProQuest Research Library