Documenting teachers’ motivation for professional learning: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

Given the wide range of knowledge and skills expected of teachers, andthe ongoing evolution of the teaching profession, it is imperative thatteachers continue to learn throughout their careers. To do so, teachersnot only need ongoing opportunities to learn, but they also needmotivation to engage in these learning opportunities. In this review, weexamine how researchers have documented teachers’ motivation toengage in professional learning opportunities, and what they havediscovered about the nature of teachers’ motivation for professionallearning. We conclude with a discussion of what current measures ofmotivation offer the field and provide recommendations for futurescholarship.

KEYWORDS:

• Motivation
• self-determination theory
• professional learning
• teachers
• continuing education

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. QT = quantitative; QL = qualitative; MM = mixed methods.

2. DES = Descriptive and/or Thematic Analysis (Including Correlations and group comparisons of means); PRE = Predictive purposes, e.g. modelling of relationships through regression, MLM, SEM, HLM.

3. Other included observations (Barlow et al. 2018); digital diaries (Zwart et al. 2009); and tweets (Brooks and McMullen 2020).

4. Reported reliability of the instrument, using the analytical sample.

5. Reported factor structure of the instrument, for the analytical sample (e.g. item loadings, EFA/CFA)

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs.