Teaching as a career choice: the motivations and expectations of students at one Scottish University

ABSTRACT

The recruitment of quality students to teacher training programmes and entering the teaching profession is an important ongoing concern in many countries including the UK. This paper presents the results of a mixed methods study on the motivations for and perceptions of teaching as a career choice from the perspective of student teachers in Scotland. Results showed that most participants were positively attracted to the teaching profession, although there appeared to be a perceived mismatch between the demands of, and the returns to, teaching, which may be related to the presence of common myths and stereotypes related to teaching and propagated in the media that are not always grounded in objective reality.

KEYWORDS:

• Pre-service teacher
• motivation
• perception
• expectation
• teaching profession
• teaching choice

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wenting Wang

Wenting Wang obtained her PhD from the University of Glasgow, UK. She is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher at South China Normal Univeristy and Educational Science Research Institute of Shenzhen. Her research interests relate to teacher education, particularly with respect to teachers' motivation, perceptions, and professional development.

Muir Houston

Dr Muir Houston is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and a member of the People, Place and Social Justice (PPSJ) Research Group at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK. He is also the chair of the College of Social Sciences sitting on the University Ethics Committee and the Depute Director of the CRADALL network. He has research interests: in adult and lifelong learning, vocational education and training including work-based and -related learning; the development and implementation of learning cities and university engagement; aspects of the contemporary student experience including access, retention, progression and performance, and issues of widening participation and inequality of opportunity. In addition, he has research interests in the career and educational motivations and aspirations of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and their transitions.