Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in pre-service secondary education teachers in Spain

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the initial motivations for studying the Master’s Degree in Secondary School Teaching in Spain. Participants were 441 university students who filled out a work-related values and motives questionnaire. Cluster analysis revealed four motivational profiles. Three of them display adequate intrinsic motivation, although there are marked differences among them. However, the fourth profile was associated with a low degree of vocation, along with difficulties in adapting to the demands of the role of teacher. The Chi-squared test yielded a better motivational profile in females and among those who had previous experience. These results allow us to make a series of proposals in the educational field. Further research should be conducted in this area; moreover, efforts should be devoted to improving the instructional design of the Spanish Master’s Degree in Secondary School Teaching, as well as to revising the procedures designed for selection and orientation of future students.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher motivation
• pre-service teacher training
• secondary education
• intrinsic motivation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The work was funded by the Department of Psychology and Sociology. University of Zaragoza. Research Group EDUCAVIVA [Government of Aragon, Ref. S57_17R] Department of Psychology and Sociology. Research Group Observatory for Research and Innovation in Social Sciences [Government of Aragon, Ref. S126] .