Main Motivations of Students of Childhood Education and Primary Education to Become Teachers

Abstract

Motivations are crucial to becoming a good teacher. This study examines the motivations of students of Childhood Education and Primary Education and their association with participants’ gender, program and age. 262 students at the CMI (University of Granada) studying educational degrees completed a paper-based questionnaire about their vocational and teaching motivations. Almost all the students (93.1%) in the Childhood and Primary Education programs are happy with their choice to become teachers, but 32.4% of these students did not choose education as their first option. Vocational motivations and the selection of educational degrees as the first option are different by gender, program and age. Male students studying Primary Education who were over 25 years old showed the highest vocational motivation. More male students under 25 years old studying Childhood Education reported that teaching was their first option in comparison to their counterparts. It is important to deepen students’ motivations to choose educational degrees. University programs have to ensure that their students develop management skills to deal with difficulties in the classroom. Moreover, it is also important to incorporate a training period in the successive years of the teacher training program as a key to working with vocational and teacher motivations in university. In any case, it would be crucial to develop a better social image of teacher in the society, because this factor can create a better world.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n6p153