Motivation to Become a Teacher: a Norwegian Validation of the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice Scale

ABSTRACT

The act of newly qualified teachers leaving the profession is a growing challenge, both in Norway and internationally. To address recruitment difficulties, there is a need for further knowledge of prospective teachers’ career motivations. The current study validated a Norwegian translation of the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) Scale. Using a sample of 635 preservice teachers, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. The results indicated that the translated scale offers a valid measure of Norwegian students’ motivation to become teachers. Self-perception of teaching-related abilities was one of the main motivational sources, together with the desire to shape the future of children and adolescents and an interest in teaching. Findings are discussed in relation to previous studies based on the FIT-Choice Scale in other countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Preservice teacher motivation
• FIT-Choice Scale
• teacher education
• validation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Helen M.G. Watt, Monash University, Australia, for valuable comments to an earlier draft of this article. The authors would also like to thank the research group Teacher Professionalism and Educational Change: Practices, Purposes, Policies (TEPEC) at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo, Norway, for funding this study.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Christian Brandmo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3641-6414

Notes

1 The concept “morale” was confused with the concept “moral” in the translation of the item.

2 To scrutinise whether the time for family and bludging were distinct factors, we tested an alternative merged model, and a second-order model. However, these worsened the fit, supporting the solution of two distinct factors.