Comparing motivations of pre-service and beginning teachers in China: impact of culture and experience

Figures & data

Table 1. Questionnaire respondents’ personal information

Beginning teachers (N = 107)
Gender		Class head teacher			Classes every week
Male	Female	Yes	No		<10		10–15	16–20
8.3%	90.7%	35.2%	63.0%		15.7%		55.6%	12.0%
Grades
primary		Junior middle		High school		Missing
14.7%		22.0%		21.1%		38.5%
Teaching experience
1 year		2 year		3 year		4 year			5 year
48.1%		7.4%		20.4%		9.3%			13.0%
Subject
Chinese		Maths		English		Geography			Chemistry
18.5%		13.9%		37.0%		8.3%			8.3%
Biology		Politics		History
4.6%		2.8%		3.7%
First year pre-service teachers (N = 122)
Gender		Recruitment track to S University
Male		Female		1^st choice		2^nd choice			Adjustment
44.3%		55.7%		85.2%		10.7%			3.3%
Subject
Chinese		Maths		Physics		Politics
26.1%		31.1%		23.0%		19.7%

Table 2. Factor loading for beginning and pre-service teachers’ entry motivation

Latent variable GROUP1 /GROUP2	Item	Item	Factor loading GROUP1/ GROUP2	Measurement Errors GROUP1/GROUP2
Motivation to teach	A1	I like teaching	1/1	0/0
0.829/1.068	A2	Teaching is a stable job	0.78/0.69	0.16/0.09
	A3	Cultivate next generation	1.08/0.79	0.16/0.10
	A4	Teachers had stable growth	0.61/0.83	0.17/0.11
	A5	To work with children	0.89/1.03	0.11/0.11
	A6	Flexible time	0.80/0.91	0.22/0.13
	A7	Good learning experience	0.63/0.86	0.14/0.11
	A9	Summer & winter vacation	0.90/0.66	0.18/0.10
	A10	Social equity	0.81/1.07	0.19/0.13
	A11	Serve society	1.13/0.75	0.18/0.11
	A14	Contribute to society	1.08/0.86	0.18/0.10
	A15	Work day not long	0.66/0.49	0.21/0.16
	A16	Work environment good	1.04/0.91	0.18/0.11
	A17	Simple work relation	0.98/0.85	0.18/0.12
	A19	Not clear my career choice	−0.65/-0.68	0.24/0.17
	A20	Teacher is not my most wanted career	−0.16/-0.94	0.24/0.17
	A24	Confident in teaching	0.48/0.65	0.12/0.09
	A25	good teachers	0.39/0.38	0.11/0.08
	A26	Good teaching skills	0.85/0.51	0.16/0.11
Perception	A21	High morality requirement	1/1	0/0
0.151/0.306	A22	Required to work hard	1.31/0.68	0.30/0.12
	A23	Required to lifelong learning	1.06/0.61	0.26/0.10
	A8	Stable income	1.91/1.11	0.55/0.22
	A12	Social respect	3.13/1.39	0.78/0.28
	A13	Good for my own kid’s education	2.83/1.76	0.70/0.30
	A18	To leave teaching	−0.93/-0.51	0.56/0.31
	A27	Social distrust	0.32/-0.81	0.20/0.29

Underlined items, p > 0.05

Table 3. Mean value of beginning and pre-service teachers’ motivations and perceptions of teaching career choice satisfaction

	Beginning teachers		Pre-service teachers		Difference
	M	SD	M	SD
Motivation for teaching
Abilities
Confident in Ability	6.16	1.02	5.63	1.06	0.53***
Mastery of good skills	5.64	1.41	4.84	1.24	0.81***
Personal utility value
Time for family	4.32	1.96	5.03	1.57	−0.71***
Short work hour	3.38	1.87	4.08	1.76	−0.70***
Good work environment	4.52	1.53	5.40	1.28	−0.88***
Simple relation	4.64	1.57	5.31	1.43	−0.67***
Social utility value
Next generation value	5.73	1.34	6.07	1.18	−0.34**
Enhance social equity	4.12	1.69	5.00	1.62	−0.88***
Serve the society	4.92	1.58	5.47	1.31	−0.55***
Make social contribution	5.15	1.52	5.80	1.97	−0.70***
Fall-back career
Not my most wanted career	3.84	2.11	3.39	1.96	0.46*
Perceptions of teaching career choice satisfaction
Task demand
Require to work hard	6.25	0.96	6.46	0.95	−0.22*
Task return
Stable income	5.54	1.47	5.78	1.12	−0.24*
Respected	4.57	1.73	5.55	1.40	−0.98***
My own kid’s schooling	5.05	1.48	5.39	1.46	−0.34*
N/A
Not satisfied with decision	4.32	2.00	3.89	1.88	0.43*
Social dissuasion	4.39	0.74	3.89	1.73	0.49**

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, respectively