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Preservice teachers' understanding of their professional goals: Case studies from three different typologies Margareta Maria Thomson a, * , Corey Palermo b, c a College of Education, North Carolina State University, 317G Poe Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-7801, USA b Measurement Incorporated, 423 Morris St., Durham, NC 27701, USA c North Carolina State University, Educational Psychology Program, 602 Poe Hall, Campus Box 7801, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA highlights Three case studies from three typologies of teachers were examined about teaching goals. Different combination of reasons (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic) are relevant for each case. Beliefs about teaching are based on previous experiences. article info Article history: Received 5 June 2013 Received in revised form 4 August 2014 Accepted 7 August 2014 Available online Keywords: Goals Typologies Prospective teachers Motivations Beliefs abstract This study presents three prospective teachers from different typologies describing their teaching goals. Findings illustrate how participants understand in unique ways their goals in relationship with inuential factors that helped them crystallize their teaching decisions. Each individual describes goals as related to main teaching motives, identity issues, beliefs, emotions, and commitment. Implications for practice include teacher education programs and policymakers better understanding the personal characteristics of teacher candidates and tailoring their programs to meet the individual needs of future teachers. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The educational research literature at the start of the twenty-rst century has seen numerous international studies describing the need for quality teaching in Ke12 classrooms given growing con- cerns about teacher attrition (e.g., Berger & D'Ascoti, 2012; Rinke, 2008; Watt & Richardson, 2011). Research shows that teachers can become dissatised with the job, because of stress, classroom management issues, and salary (Stotko, Ingram, & Beaty-O'Ferrall, 2007), and attrition has been shown to be the primary cause of de- mand for new teachers (Guarino, Santibanez, & Daley, 2006; Watt & Richardson, 2012). Because of this phenomenon, the quality of teaching suffers, and with a limited number of qualied teachers to replace those who leave the profession, students are struggling to receive quality education (Harris & Sass, 2011). Recent research ndings from international studies including teachers in the United States (Cave & Mulloy, 2010; Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007, 2010; Thomson, 2011; Thomson, Turner, & Nietfeld, 2012; Thomson & McIntyre, 2013), Belgium (Rots, Aelterman, Devos, & Vlerick, 2010; Rots, Kelchtermans, & Aelterman, 2012), Germany (Kieschke & Schaarschmidt, 2008; Konig & Rothland, 2012), Switzerland (Berger & D'Ascoti, 2012), Australia (Watt & Richardson, 2008, 2012) and Turkey (Kilinc, Watt, & Richardson, 2012) highlight the complexity of teacher motivation and pinpoint the challenges of being a teacher. These ndings underscore the importance of un- derstanding teachers' professional goals and initial motives for entering the teaching profession and the importance of choosing future members of the profession, and suggest a need for systemic teacher education reform in many countries around the globe. The United States and the United Kingdom have been taken concrete steps to address issues of teacher attrition and teacher quality by developing lateral entry programs to increase the supply of teachers. In the United States, programs like Teach for America (TFA) and VIF International Education are aimed at recruiting teachers from * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 919 513 0917; fax: þ1 919 513 0919. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.M. Thomson), cpalermo@measinc. com (C. Palermo). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.08.002 0742-051X/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e68

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Page 1: Preservice teachers' understanding of their professional goals: Case studies from three different typologies

lable at ScienceDirect

Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e68

Contents lists avai

Teaching and Teacher Education

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate/ tate

Preservice teachers' understanding of their professional goals: Casestudies from three different typologies

Margareta Maria Thomson a, *, Corey Palermo b, c

a College of Education, North Carolina State University, 317G Poe Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-7801, USAb Measurement Incorporated, 423 Morris St., Durham, NC 27701, USAc North Carolina State University, Educational Psychology Program, 602 Poe Hall, Campus Box 7801, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

� Three case studies from three typologies of teachers were examined about teaching goals.� Different combination of reasons (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic) are relevant for each case.� Beliefs about teaching are based on previous experiences.

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 5 June 2013Received in revised form4 August 2014Accepted 7 August 2014Available online

Keywords:GoalsTypologiesProspective teachersMotivationsBeliefs

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 919 513 0917; fax:E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.M. Th

com (C. Palermo).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.08.0020742-051X/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

a b s t r a c t

This study presents three prospective teachers from different typologies describing their teaching goals.Findings illustrate how participants understand in uniqueways their goals in relationship with influentialfactors that helped them crystallize their teaching decisions. Each individual describes goals as related tomain teaching motives, identity issues, beliefs, emotions, and commitment. Implications for practiceinclude teacher educationprograms and policymakers better understanding the personal characteristics ofteacher candidates and tailoring their programs to meet the individual needs of future teachers.

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The educational research literature at the start of the twenty-firstcentury has seen numerous international studies describing theneed for quality teaching in Ke12 classrooms given growing con-cerns about teacher attrition (e.g., Berger & D'Ascoti, 2012; Rinke,2008; Watt & Richardson, 2011). Research shows that teachers canbecome dissatisfied with the job, because of stress, classroommanagement issues, and salary (Stotko, Ingram, & Beaty-O'Ferrall,2007), and attrition has been shown to be the primary cause of de-mand for new teachers (Guarino, Santibanez,&Daley, 2006;Watt&Richardson, 2012). Because of this phenomenon, the quality ofteaching suffers, and with a limited number of qualified teachers toreplace those who leave the profession, students are struggling toreceive quality education (Harris & Sass, 2011).

þ1 919 513 0919.omson), cpalermo@measinc.

Recent research findings from international studies includingteachers in the United States (Cave &Mulloy, 2010; Clotfelter, Ladd,& Vigdor, 2007, 2010; Thomson, 2011; Thomson, Turner,& Nietfeld,2012; Thomson&McIntyre, 2013), Belgium (Rots, Aelterman,Devos,& Vlerick, 2010; Rots, Kelchtermans, & Aelterman, 2012), Germany(Kieschke & Schaarschmidt, 2008; K€onig & Rothland, 2012),Switzerland (Berger&D'Ascoti, 2012), Australia (Watt&Richardson,2008, 2012) and Turkey (Kilinc, Watt,& Richardson, 2012) highlightthe complexity of teachermotivation and pinpoint the challenges ofbeing a teacher. These findings underscore the importance of un-derstanding teachers' professional goals and initial motives forentering the teaching profession and the importance of choosingfuture members of the profession, and suggest a need for systemicteacher education reform in many countries around the globe. TheUnited States and the United Kingdom have been taken concretesteps to address issues of teacher attrition and teacher quality bydeveloping lateral entry programs to increase the supplyof teachers.In the United States, programs like Teach for America (TFA) and VIFInternational Education are aimed at recruiting teachers from

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M.M. Thomson, C. Palermo / Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e68 57

diverse backgrounds to fill teaching positions in schools thatfrequently have high teacher attrition rates. In the United Kingdom,TFA's partner organization Teach First is aimed at injecting high-quality teachers into the profession through alternate routes tocertification. Research examining outcomes of these programs onstudent achievement has found that the overall higher qualifica-tions of teachers from TFA and similar programs may compensatefor the greater preparation of traditionally certified teachers (Boyd,Goldhaber, Lankford, & Wyckoff, 2007). Moreover, thesealternative-route programs produce a fraction of the total teachersentering theworkforce, and teachers in such programs tend to leavethe profession at high rates following their teaching commitment(Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, Ronfeldt, & Wyckoff, 2011).

The issuesdescribedaboveemphasize the importanceof analyzingpreservice teachers' (PTs) career choice before trying to understandmotivational aspects behind teacher attrition. Understanding thegoals of PTs prior to or early in their teacher preparationprograms canhelp educators provide quality experiences to prospective teacherswho would develop into successful and committed teachers (Cave &Mulloy, 2010). Recent international research on teacher values andmotives from theUnited States (Pop& Turner, 2009), Croatia (Jugovic,Marusic, Ivanec, & Vidoviv, 2012), Switzerland (Berger & D'Ascoti,2012), the Netherlands (Fokkens-Bruinsma & Canrinus, 2012) andAustralia (Richardson&Watt, 2005; Watt & Richardson, 2007, 2008)shows that PTs' initial teachingmotives and views about teaching arecrucial to their future professional identities, classroomdecisions, andcommitment to teaching.

Nevertheless, most research investigating the teaching goals ofPTs focuses on their motivation for entering and remaining in theteaching profession. Only a few studies conducted in the UnitedStates and Australia (i.e., Thomson et al., 2012; Thomson &McIntyre, 2013; Watt & Richardson, 2008, 2011) have investi-gated PTs' motivational profiles (i.e., typologies) as related toidentity issues, teaching beliefs, emotions, and commitment. In thecurrent study we explore how PTs from different typologies un-derstand and describe their professional (teaching) goals as relatedto various influential factors. Three case studies were purposefullyselected to illustrate individual teaching goals of PTs from differentteaching typologies identified empirically in Thomson et al. (2012).Our hope is that these case studies will provide educational poli-cymakers and teacher educators a better understanding of the ty-pologies of PTs. We see this as a necessary first step toward teachereducation programs in a variety of contexts being better tailored toPTs' motivations and beliefs and ultimately to being better able toprepare PTs for the realities of the teaching profession (Guarinoet al., 2006; Rots et al., 2012; Watt et al., 2012).

2. Theoretical considerations

2.1. Theoretical model

In the current study, teaching goals are defined as subjectiverepresentations of an individual's future actions (Schunk, Pintrich,& Meece, 2008; Thomson & McIntyre, 2013). Teaching goals arelife-task goals and are related to a host of decisions faced by PTsincluding career decisions, professional choices, and other life-related decisions such as personal or family-related decisions.Teaching goals can be contrasted with academic or achievement/learning goals which focus on an individual's learning process(Latham, Seijts, & Crim, 2008; O'Neill & Thomson, 2013; Schunk &Pajares, 2009; Schunk et al., 2008; Wigfield & Cambria, 2010).

A review of research (i.e., Guarino et al., 2006; Schutz, Crowder,&White, 2001;Watt et al., 2012) has identified factors influential tothe development of the teaching goal, including social influences,such as family, friends, and former teachers, and intrinsic

influences, such as self-perceived teaching identities and the natureof teaching motivators (i.e., social utility, intrinsic, and personalutility). Other studies link teachers' notions of professional goalswith the context of goal development and their actions and stra-tegies, such as schooling experiences, emotions, commitment tothe profession, and planned professional actions (Pop & Turner,2009; Smethem, 2007; Thomson & McIntyre, 2013).

In describing our theoretical foundations we draw from theliterature exploring teachers' professional goals, motivation, iden-tity, and beliefs. The teaching goal model (Fig. 1, from Thomson &McIntyre, 2013) presents PTs' goal development in relationshipwith influential factors that help individuals crystalize theirteaching decisions, including: (1) motivators (e.g., intrinsic, altru-istic, and extrinsic motivations); (2) beliefs (e.g., beliefs about theteaching career; beliefs about instruction); (3) context (e.g., PTs'past schooling experiences; emotions); and (4) strategies (e.g.,commitment to teaching; future professional plans). In the currentstudy we borrow elements from this theoretical model to guide ourdata analyses. Next, we describe the literature related to mainconcepts from the study: teaching goals, identity, motivations, be-liefs, teacher emotions, and teaching commitment.

2.2. Teaching goals

Most research literature describes PTs' professional goals in thecontext of teaching motivations and teaching beliefs (Richardson &Watt, 2005; Rots et al., 2010; Thomson & McIntyre, 2013). Profes-sional goals are life-task goals involving professional as well aspersonal decisions that impact the individual's aim to become ateacher. These life-task goals can help explain effort and persis-tence that individuals use to become successful professionally orpersonally. Professional goals are situated at the center of an in-dividual's life, and the success or failure in achieving such goals isdependent on other internal or external factors (Wigfield, Tonks, &Eccles, 2004; Wolters & Daugherty, 2007).

Recent research in teacher education has stressed the impor-tance of investigating how PTs understand their professional goalsand how the goal to become a teacher develops when pursuingteaching as a career. For instance, Pop and Turner (2009) foundcommon sources influencing PTs from the United States in theirdecision to become teachers. These sources were related mainly tosocial influences such as family, friends, and former teachers; majorlife events; and personal utility reasons such as job benefits, va-cations, and whether they had children.

A number of international studies have also examined the rela-tionship between teaching goals and individuals' perceived levels ofteaching commitment (Rots et al., 2010, 2012; Smethem, 2007;Thomson & McIntyre, 2013). Smethem (2007) found that differentprofessional attitudes of teachers from the United Kingdom werecorrelated with different levels of commitment to teaching. In thecontext of a teacher education program in Belgium, Rots et al. (2010)found that PTs who enrolled in the program with stronger in-tentions to want to work as a teacher and those who reported beingmore committed to teaching at the end of the program were morelikely to show higher intention to enter the teaching profession.

2.3. Teaching identity

Researchers have argued that the underlying purpose of teachereducation programs is to form PTs' professional identity. VanHuizen, Van Oers, and Wubbels (2005) explain that this requiresPTs to “explore the practice of teaching for meanings to which theyare willing to commit themselves, and for the realization of whichthey are willing to develop competence” (p. 282). How teachingidentity is conceptualized has important implications for teacher

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Fig. 1. The teaching goal model (from Thomson & McIntyre, 2013).

M.M. Thomson, C. Palermo / Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e6858

education programs when considering learning opportunities tosupport PTs' identity development.

Schatz-Oppenheimer and Dvir (2014) outline how differencesbetween traditional and post-modern approaches to personalidentity support multiple definitions of teachers' professionalidentity and paths through identity construction. Traditional ap-proaches, which suggest personal identity is developed throughinternal and external conflict that leads to a refined, singularidentity, would imply that teaching identity is informed by teach-ers' early successes and failures before stability, i.e., expertise, isachieved. Post-modern approaches, which suggest personal iden-tity is developed through contextually situated experiences thatlead to amulti-faceted and fluid identity, would imply that teachingidentity changes throughout teachers' careers based on context andexperiences (Schatz-Oppenheimer & Dvir, 2014).

The development of teachers' professional ways of beingdinwhich the focus is on the process of becoming a professional ratherthan simply the development of knowledge and skillsdhas beendescribedbyDall'Alba (2004, 2009).Dall'Alba (2009) calls for teachereducation programs to embrace the ontological dimension of pro-fessional education, requiring that such programs be “reconfiguredas a process of becoming; an unfolding and transformation of the selfover time” (p. 43). Thus, teacher education programs need to allowfor PTs to act as and be teachers, in integrationwith their knowledgeand abilities of teaching (Dall'Alba 2009).

Carroll, Motha, and Price (2008) and Motha (2006) describe theidentity formation of teachers of English for speakers of otherlanguages (ESOL) in the United States and explain how teachingidentity is context-grounded, with social-cultural upbringing hav-ing a powerful impact on views of career, relationships with stu-dents, and understanding of professional roles. Timo�st�suk andSikka (2008) and Timo�st�suk and Ugaste (2010) explore EstonianPTs' professional identity formation and describe PTs' perceptionsof themselves, their relationships, and the teaching environment.Findings show that participants' accounts of learning seem to

marginalize the social contexts and professional relationshipswithin the teaching community. The authors recommend thatteacher education programs more adequately address the socialaspects of learning to teach because PTs tended not to describethemselves as teachers or see themselves as members of a pro-fessional community, suggesting a need to make the teacher's rolein society more explicit for future teacher candidates.

2.4. Teaching motivations

Much recent international research examining teaching motiva-tions has investigated the reasons for becoming a teacher and howthese reasons are described by participants (e.g., Fokkens-Bruinsma&Canrinus, 2012; Taimalu, Luik,Voltri,&Kalk, 2011;Watt&Richardson,2008). Generally, individuals have been found to enter the teachingprofession for altruistic, intrinsic, and extrinsic reasons (e.g.,Richardson & Watt, 2005; Saban, 2010; Thomson & McIntyre, 2013).Intrinsic reasons are related to inherent teaching job aspects, such asenjoying working with students. Altruistic reasons are related toobtaining satisfaction fromengaging inanactivity that aimsathelpingothers, such as helping children succeed academically. Extrinsic rea-sons are related to obtaining satisfaction from external rewards, suchas benefiting from a long summer vacation, a flexible teachingschedule, or a certain social status offered by the teaching job.

Sinclair (2008) showed that PTs are attracted to the professionby multiple motives; thus, an individual may be motivated withinand across a range of the intrinsic, altruistic, and extrinsic reasonsdescribed above. A wide body of international research investi-gating the motives for becoming a teacher suggests these motiva-tions tend to be related to intrinsic and altruistic reasons. Forinstance, studies conducted with participants from China, theUnited States, Germany, Turkey, and Australia (i.e., Lin, Shi, Wang,Zhang, & Hui, 2012; Kilinc et al., 2012; K€onig & Rothland, 2012;Smethen, 2007; Thomson et al., 2012; Watt & Richardson, 2008,2012) have shown the motivations for teaching described by

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M.M. Thomson, C. Palermo / Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e68 59

participants to be mainly intrinsic and altruistic. However,Akyeampong and Stephens (2002) find PTs from Ghana to enterteacher training for altruistic and extrinsic reasons more thanintrinsic reasons, and Taimalu et al. (2011) find PTs from Estonia toreport primarily extrinsic motivations for entering the teachingprofession. These results suggest differences in the rankings oftypes of teaching reasons from country to country and that moti-vation for teaching is influenced by socio-cultural factors charac-teristic to individual countries, cultures, and contexts.

Researchers have further distinguished between adaptive andmaladaptive motivations by considering the extent to whichvarious motives promote deep versus superficial engagement in atask (Bruinsma & Jansen, 2010; Sinclair, Dowson, & McInerney,2006). Examining the relations between teaching motivation andPTs' teaching commitment in a Dutch teacher education program,Bruinsma and Jansen (2010) found PTs with greater ability to reporthigher intrinsic adaptive motives; those with higher extrinsicmaladaptive motives intended to stay in the teaching profession fora shorter amount of time and those with higher extrinsic adaptivemotives had lower self-efficacy for teaching.

2.5. Teaching beliefs

Individuals enter teacher education programs with beliefs basedon prior experiences (Clark & Peterson, 1986; Cochran-Smith &Zeichner, 2005; Thomson et al., 2012;Wilke& Losh, 2008), and someof the documented beliefs of prospective teachers, such as the effec-tiveness of direct instruction for meeting all instructional needs andthe emphasis on behavioral aspects of students, tend not to alignwithcurrent researchon instructionalbestpractices.Previous internationalresearch investigating PTs' beliefs has shown that individuals enterteacher education programs with some knowledge of what teachingand learning is due to their previous schooling experiences (Clark &Peterson, 1986; Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2006; Saban, Kocbeker,& Saban, 2007). Specifically, studies conducted in the United States,Turkey, and Ireland (Alger, 2009; Leavy, McSorley, & Bote, 2007;Patchen & Crawford, 2011; Saban, 2010) have shown that PTs' un-derstandingof teachingand learning isgrounded intheirpersonal andacademic experiences. PTs have developed cognitive schemas fromthese experiences by the time they enter teacher training programs,and PT's schemas as well as their teaching beliefs have a strong in-fluenceon their future teaching activities anddecisions (e.g., L€ofstr€om& Poom-Valickis, 2013). For instance, in exploring Turkish PTs' beliefsabout conceptions of effective teachers, Saban and colleagues (Saban,2003, 2004, 2010; Saban et al., 2007) have shown that PTs' teachingbeliefs are dominated by previous educational experiences and areresistant to change. Researchers have also begun to document theconditions that foster changes in beliefs. Leavy et al. (2007), in an ex-amination of teacher beliefs in the United States and Ireland, foundPTs' ability to change their instructional beliefs directly linked to theamount of exposure to different field experiences.

Several studies investigating PTs' perceptions of effective teachingand the attributes of effective teachers (i.e.,Murphy, Delli,& Edwards,2004; Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2006; Schulte, Slate, &Onwuegbuzie, 2008) have found that PTs believe that direct instruc-tion (i.e., lecturing) is the most effective form of instruction. PTs havedescribed effective teachers as being able to manage a classroom andset up a system of rewards and punishments (Murphy et al., 2004;Roehrig et al., 2008). Roehrig et al. (2008) examined possible re-lationships betweenfieldobservationsandknowledge about effectivereading practices and suggested that guided field observations ofexemplary teachingpracticesmaypositively impactPTs'knowledgeofeffective instruction. Patchen and Crawford (2011) examined UnitedStates teachers' beliefs about instructional approaches and concludedthat schooling beliefs are eclectic and difficult to classify due to their

constant dynamic nature. Teachers seemed to be able to successfullyblend student-oriented and teacher-oriented approaches in the samelesson in order to meet the instructional goals.

2.6. Teacher emotions

Schutz and Zembylas (2009) proposed that the complexity ofteaching is underestimated when neglecting the emotionalcomplexity of teaching. Teacher emotions are commonly concep-tualized as being both socially and culturally situated (Zembylas,2003, 2005). International research from Germany, the UnitedStates, Belgium, and Estonia investigating teachers' emotions hasshown that becoming a teacher is an emotional experience(Frenzel, Goetz, Lüdtke, Pekrun, & Sutton, 2009; Meyer, 2009;Zembylas, 2003), and researchers have subsequently argued thatteacher education programs need to better support PTs for theemotional aspects of teaching (Rots et al., 2012; Timo�st�suk &Ugaste, 2010). Upon entering the teaching profession, teachingcommitment is in part an emotional reaction to PTs' learning ex-periences during student teaching (Rots et al., 2010).

2.7. Teaching commitment

Teaching commitment is defined in the current study as thestrength of psychological attachment to the profession (Rots et al.,2010). Commitment to teaching changes during the course ofteacher education programs and particularly during student teachingas PTs gain experience working with children and come to betterunderstand the nature of teaching work (Sinclair, 2008). Thus, theteaching goal and teaching commitment are intertwined, as it isthrough experience that the teaching goal is contextualized, clarified,and refinedandcommitment to the teachingprofession strengthenedor weakened. Pop and Turner (2009) explored United States PTs'motivations as related to their level of commitment to teaching andfound that PTs tended to commit to teaching if they perceivedthemselves as suited for the teaching profession. In a study of noviceteachers in the United Kingdom, Smethem (2007) found teacherworkload and student behavior to induce negative intention whilemastery experiences and encouragement prompted commitment toteaching. Previous research has demonstrated the importance ofteaching commitment for teacher retention (Day, Elliot, & Kington,2005; Tait, 2008) and student achievement (Day, Stobart, Sammons,& Kington, 2006).

3. Purpose

The focus of this studywas to analyze the teaching goals of threePTs representing three different typologies. These typologies wereidentified empirically in Thomson et al. (2012), based on partici-pants' teaching motives. In presenting the three case studies, wedescribe similarities and differences among the PTs in how theyexplain their teaching goals as related to their teaching motives,beliefs, identity, emotions, and commitment. Our study thus re-sponds to the need for more qualitative research that explores in-dividuals' teaching goals across different teaching typologiesidentified empirically.

4. Method

4.1. Participants

Participants were three PTsdundergraduate students enrolled ina four-year teacher training program in a college of education at alarge research university in the United States. The three participantswere enrolled in an Educational Psychology course; there were six

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Table 1Demographic characteristics of interview participants.

Characteristics Total (n ¼ 25) Enthusiastic (n ¼ 12) Conventional(n ¼ 7)

Pragmatic (n ¼ 6)

n % n % n % n %

GenderMale 6 24 2 17 2 29 2 33Female 19 76 10 83 5 71 4 67

Age18e21 17 68 9 75 3 43 5 8322e24 6 24 2 17 3 43 1 1725e31 2 8 1 8 1 14 0 0

College majorEarly Childhood 2 8 0 0 1 14 1 17Elementary Ed 10 40 4 33 3 43 3 50Math Ed 5 20 3 25 2 29 0 0Social Science 4 16 3 25 0 0 1 17English Ed 4 16 2 17 1 14 1 17

Year in programJunior 18 72 11 92 4 57 3 50Senior 7 28 1 8 3 43 3 50

Teaching career intentionsCommitted 20 80 11 92 5 71 4 67Undecided 4 16 1 8 2 29 1 17Not interested 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 17

Family members teachingYes 12 48 8 67 1 14 3 50No 13 52 4 33 6 86 3 50

M.M. Thomson, C. Palermo / Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e6860

sections of the course offered throughout the year, and the primaryresearcher was the instructor for one of the sections. However, noneof the three participants were enrolled in the section of the coursetaught by the primary researcher. Interviews were conducted by theprimary researcher at the participants' convenience in the campuslibrary, a location deemed comfortable by participants.

As part of a larger mixed-methods study aimed at identifyingdifferent teaching typologies with different motivational profiles(Thomson et al., 2012), a group of 25 PTs were interviewed abouttheir teaching goals. Table 1 presents demographic characteristicsof interview participants from that study.

In the current study, from the 25 interviews, three case stud-iesdone from each typologydwere selected purposefully for an in-depth analysis targeting an understanding of the teaching goal.Megan, Cynthia, and Louise (all pseudonyms) are the three PTswhose stories are presented in this article. The purposeful selectionwas done based on recommendations from the qualitative litera-ture on case study methodology (Creswell, 2013), which suggeststhat cases should be selected to illustrate a unique, interesting story(intrinsic case study), or to illustrate an interesting phenomenon(instrumental case studies). In this study, the former approach wasused, namely the intrinsic case study which focuses on describingthe individual's unique story (Creswell, 2013). Table 2 presentsdemographic profiles of case study participants.

4.2. Procedures

Primary data were transcribed interviews from the larger mixed-method study (Thomson et al., 2012) in which surveys and in-terviews were collected in two phases. All participants signed a

Table 2Demographic profiles of case study participants.

Participant Cluster classification Age Year in program College m

Megan Cluster 1: Enthusiastic 22 Junior Elementar

Cynthia Cluster 2: Conventional 21 Senior Mathema

Louise Cluster 3: Pragmatic 19 Junior Early Chil

consent form before completing a survey, and a second consent formwas obtained from all interview participants prior to interviews. Toprotect participants' identities, no names were recorded on surveys;an individual code was assigned to each participant and a separatemaster list linking names with survey data was produced and madeavailable only to the primary researcher. At the interview stage, apseudonymwas assigned to each participant and another master listlinking participants' names to interview data was produced by theprimary researcher.

The procedures of collecting survey and interview data (inThomson et al., 2012) involved two phases, which are describedbelow. Table 3 presents the timeline for data collection.

4.2.1Phase 1: surveyAt the beginning of the semester the Reasons for Teaching

Scale (RTS, in Thomson et al., 2012) was administered to 215preservice teachers. The RTS is a 21-item questionnaire that asksparticipants to rate the importance of specific reasons forbecoming a teacher (e.g., love for teaching, vacations, benefits) ona scale of 1e5. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted onthe RTS, producing six factors (see Appendix A) that explained62% of the total variance. Survey data were then analyzed using ahierarchical cluster analysis in order to classify individuals in ty-pologies based on their RTS responses. Cluster analysis results(Thomson et al., 2012) identified three typologies (n's of 93, 70,and 52). To assess profiles of these typologies and examine cross-cluster differences related to participants' motivations for teach-ing, an ANOVA was conducted. Results indicated that individualswho belonged to the same cluster/typology shared similar char-acteristics and had similar motivational profiles related to their

ajor Teaching commitment

y Education Fully committed to teaching; willing to stay in Ke12teaching

tics Education Fully committed to teaching; willing to stay in Ke12teaching

dhood Education Partially committed to teaching: undecided how long shewill stay in Ke12 teaching

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Table 3Timeline for data collection.

Time Data collection

A. Beginning of the semester:Phase I

A. Survey (N ¼ 215)

a) Survey administration / a) Survey data collected: Reasons forTeaching (RTS) and demographics

b) Survey data analysis / b) Survey data analyzed using clusteranalysis

c) Typology identification / c) Quantitative analysis of RTS datausing cluster analysis empiricallyidentified three clusters/typologiesof PTs, labeled as Cluster 1: Enthu-siastic (n ¼ 93), Cluster 2: Conven-tional (n ¼ 70), and Cluster 3:Pragmatic (n ¼ 52).

B. End of the semester: Phase 2 B. Interview (n ¼ 25)

In-depth interviews / a) Interview selection: 12 participantsfrom Cluster 1, seven participantsfrom Cluster 2, and six participantsfrom Cluster 3

M.M. Thomson, C. Palermo / Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e68 61

professional goal. From each cluster, interview participants wereselected in phase 2.

4.2.2. Phase 2: interviewsAt the end of the semester, face-to-face interviews were

conducted with 25 participants for approximately 45e50 mineach. All interviews were recorded and later transcribed verbatim.The selection of interview participants ensured proportional repre-sentation from each cluster. The 25 total interview participantsincluded 12 participants selected randomly from Cluster 1 (n ¼ 93),seven from Cluster 2 (n ¼ 70), and six from Cluster 3 (n ¼ 52). Thethree identified typologies were labeled (in Thomson et al., 2012)based on their relevant characteristics as follows: Cluster 1: Enthu-siastic; Cluster 2: Conventional; and Cluster 3: Pragmatic. Appendix Apresents the cluster formations. Cluster 1: Enthusiastic reported lowmotivations related to job benefits and relationships, and highintrinsicandaltruisticmotives. Cluster2:Conventional reportedhighaltruistic and intrinsic motives and low identity and opportunityreasons. Cluster 3: Pragmatic reported relatively high altruistic rea-sons and job benefits, and low scores on relationships and identityreasons. In the current study, one case study from each cluster waspurposefully selected to illustrate the teaching goals of different PTs.

4.3. Data coding

Three types of codingwere used (Creswell, 2013), including opencoding (salient categories), axial coding (interconnects categories),and selective coding (theoretical propositions). Two coders orga-nizedand coded thequalitativedata.Worddocuments andExcelfileswere used for organizing data, coding, andmemos. No software wasused for interview data analysis. Both coders were knowledgeableabout qualitative research and had expertise in the field of teachertraining. A coding scheme (Appendix B) was built and tested, andthen constantly revised until 100% agreement was reached.

5. Findings

Qualitative data from the current study illustrated that the threePTs' interpretations of their teaching goals were unique, but simi-larities across interpretations were found. Results revealed relatedsources of influences among the three PTs. The three participants'accounts are presented as illustrative individual stories one fromeach cluster, namely Cluster 1: Enthusiastic, Cluster 2: Conven-tional, and Cluster 3: Pragmatic.

5.1. Megan: “I felt I had to be there”

Megan, from Cluster 1: Enthusiastic, reported predominantlyaltruistic motives; working with children was a calling and majorsource of professional satisfaction for her. She stated that one of themost important reasons for becoming a teacher was the desire tohelp children learn and succeed, especially students with under-privileged backgrounds:

The preschool I worked at, it has a very low SES, and I thought Icould bring knowledge to the kids because theyweren't going toget it anywhere else and so I felt like I was making a hugeimpact. I felt I had to be there for the kids because there'snothing else that was; some of the kids couldn't … speak yet,when they should've, nobody worked with them or gave them athought over the day, so I just wanted to do something for them.

She described how her interactions with young children led toher to think about a teaching career:

Let's see, my familydalways being around kids, I'm the secondoldest, so I was always [around] the younger children. And thenwhen I was in high school I worked in a preschool. And that beingthere and being in that atmosphere really impressed me, and Ithought “that's a place Iwant to continueon intomy life,” and I justremember I was thinking “this is something I can move on with,and I'll enjoy.”

Social relationships with family members, friends, and studentsrepresented a strong influence for Megan; she came from a largefamily with two step-brothers and two sisters, and she describedfeeling most useful when she was around people and could help:

I always was around other people, trying to get attention, and myfamilywas really a support system, so I just couldn't imagine beingthe only child and that taughtme a lot, like giving and sharing andhow to warm up the atmosphere, always around people. So I'mlookingatmyself tobesocial, I guess. I lovekids! [Theyare] theonlyreason I wanted to be a teacher. I'm always trying to give knowl-edge, and help people understand things they didn't before.

Megan envisioned that her professional needs would be fulfilledthrough the teaching career and indicated that she felt relievedwhen she finally decided to change majors and become anelementary teacher. This was a common leitmotif for Megan: shewanted to be professionally fulfilled through teaching because shevalued education, felt passionate about teaching, and wasextremely enthusiastic about working with children.

Megan's teaching beliefs were realistic and she was able todescribe both advantages and disadvantages of teaching. Meganperceived teaching as one of the most important professions in asociety; she saw education as an important way to improve society,and thus felt that education should be a priority for any culture. Herdescription of teaching mostly related to one's aptitude or lack ofaptitude for teaching and ability to impact student lives:

Advantages: I think that you become more tolerant, more pa-tient as a person and I think that you are able to look at thingsand situations and ideas and different perspectives coming froma teacher. Disadvantages: from what I heard it's stressful andobviously pay, but that doesn't matter. Let's see, if you find outyou're not a good teacher that's a pretty hard thing to do if youwant to do, but you are just not good at it.

Additionally, Megan saw effective teaching as comprising theability to set long-term goals for students and inspire them to set

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life goals for themselves. Megan's view of quality teaching wasrelated to professionalism and dedication to the profession. Shecharacterized effective teachers as being successful in facilitatingstudent learning, able to advise students, capable of motivatingstudents, and adept at using the most appropriate teaching stra-tegies with learners. She stated, “An effective teacher would besomeonewho provides a lot of opportunities, a lot of advice, a lot ofknowledge, and goes beyond what is expected.”

As far as instructional beliefs, Megan described a student-oriented approach, emphasizing the importance of knowing stu-dents' needs before designing and presenting a lesson. Whendescribing her future teaching style, Meganwas able to explaindindetaild pedagogical approaches and the implications of these ap-proaches. She further explained that one of her main goals as ateacher was to teach conceptually rather than procedurally:

[Teaching] conceptually. I think this semester we all learned thatconceptual learning is how … we are kind of celebrating thatstyle of learning. Procedures you can't go beyond, you know,what procedures that they would understand. And I feel likeusing a lot of hands-on activities and cognitive theories andusing cooperative groupsdit would really stay with the kids.Instead of “here is a procedure, learn these steps, and then dothis in the worksheet” … it's just boring and redundant, and Isee the classroom as a lot of opportunities.

When asked about her future professional plans, Megan envi-sioned herself as a fully committed teacher, able to stay in teachingfor a lifetime, close to students, relaxed yet in control, and able tocreate a warm classroom atmosphere that is conducive to learning:

I see myself as really relaxed and more of a facilitator forlearning. I had teachers that were kind of distant from the stu-dents; there was really never a connection. I can see myselfhaving friends; students would be my friends, even if there arestill tiny things that would keep me from the students. Ofcourse, I'll have some level of authority, obviously, but not to thepoint where they are scared of you.

In her interview, Megan talked about positive past schoolingmemories and teaching experiences connected with positiveemotions. Besides exhibiting a strong passion for teaching andenjoyment in working with students, Megan described modelteachers as “being happy.” For her, teaching encompassed positiveemotions not just as a result of her personal experiences butthrough vicarious experiences, those she witnessed through otherteachers who were models for her:

My best friend's mom is a teacher and I respect her a great deal.And I just saw how happy she was. Most of my favorite teachers,I saw how happy they were just doing that and then thinkingthat I would be happy. That's how I feel I'd be like a teacher. Iremember in elementary school all my teachers were justwonderful and I really learned a lot, and it was just a happyperiod in my life.

5.2. Cynthia: “I want to learn more”

Cynthia, from Cluster 2: Conventional, shared that one of herkey teaching motivations was the opportunity to help young chil-dren develop in life. She described primarily intrinsic and altruisticreasons in her interview, such as enjoyment for the teaching ac-tivity and desire to help students progress. Cynthia mentioned thatrelationships with other people such as family and teachers weregenerally not very influential in her decision to become a teacher.However, exceptional former teachers instilled in her a passion for

teaching; she acknowledged that several former teachers were rolemodels for her, especially with respect to instructional style:

Itmademe seewhat I couldpossibly do to help people, I really likethat. I feel like by influencing younger children itwould be a betterexperience. I really like it [teaching]. I want to help people, and Iwant to help children. I feel when I was growing up I had reallygood teachers, and I felt like, that really helped me as a person.

Megan and Cynthia exhibited similarities in respect to theirteaching motivations, but notable differences were evident whencomparing their philosophies of teaching. Both PTs had predomi-nantly altruistic and intrinsic motivations for teaching, but haddifferent views on teaching. Cynthia, from the Conventional cluster,viewed the classroom setting as the only location where educationtakes place. Her responses regarding views of teaching implied thateducation results strictly from teacher and student classroom in-teractions, whereas Megan, from the Enthusiastic cluster, perceivededucation as a common effort that involved community and familyparticipation in the education of children.

Cynthia's positive but realistic beliefs about the teaching profes-sion encapsulated disadvantages of teaching along with advantagesof the profession. She described some advantages as being related tothe opportunity to help children learn, but she also acknowledgedconcerns about accountability, stress, and financial problems:

I think people don't give them [teachers] enough credit, becauseI feel like people kind of look down on that [teaching], and thinkthat that's not the best way to go, but I feel likewithout teachers,we wouldn't be anywhere, because there wouldn't be anyone tohelp educate people.

When asked about her instructional beliefs and preferredinstructional style, Cynthia described a student-oriented approachin which instruction is based on student progress, and lessons aredesigned with students' needs in mind:

I probably would be more student-oriented, than teacher, Iforget what it's called … but I would be more student-oriented,and catering to my students, instead of … teaching … every-thing I felt was what exactly they should be taught, but gettingfeedback from them, and things that they want to know moreabout, and are interested in.

Cynthiaelaboratedon thestudent-oriented instructional approachwhen describing effective teachers and quality teaching as well:

I think quality teaching is listening to your students, and helpingthem to learn what they're not getting. I know you can't helpevery student get everything, but by helping students, like ingroups or something, is probably the best way to help spread theknowledge, and help people learn.

One aspect most unique about Cynthia related to the strongcommitment to teaching she maintained concurrent with a desireto continue her own education. Despite the fact that she wasplanning to pursue a master's degree in anthropologyda field shewas very interested indshe shared that her intentionwas to returnto teaching after completing her master's studies:

I wanted to take anthropology next semester. I'm still debating[pursuing a master's degree], ‘cause I still really want to teach,but I just feel like there's more… I want to learn more still, and Iwant to go and experience things, so I feel like if I go with [math]education, right after college I'm going to be going into the workfield, and I don't think that's what I really want to do right now . .. . I really wanted to teach, like I've always wanted to teach, but Iwould always like to try all these new things.”

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Her strong teaching commitment was reconfirmed when sheexpressed that she would be a teacher for a lifetime. “If I decide tobe a teacher, I would probably stay for my whole life. I think thatwould be my career.” Cynthia's emotions paralleled her teachingcommitment. She expressed positive emotions and describedfeeling excited and optimistic about teaching:

Right now? [I feel] … anxious kind of, and excited, feeling like Ican give hope to the world, and help people. I guess excitedwould probably be the best one out of them … I guess the mostrewarding experiences would be to have a student that I couldreally help, and then later in life they remembered, like even ifthey didn't remember what I did but how I helped them, or justme in general, or I don't know, I guess that would probably bethe most rewarding thing.”

5.3. Louise: “I don't want to be a teacher indefinitely”

Louise, from Cluster 3: Pragmatic, cited among her teachingmotives job security, steady pay, and a flexible schedule. She sharedthat she did not want to enter teaching initially and that she doesnot see herself staying in the profession for a long time:

Well, originally I didn't want to be a teacher. I'm pretty good orat least I've been told I'm pretty good at it. And I love workingwith kids, but the reason that I don't want to be a teacherindefinitely is [that] I get a little bit bored, because I like toproblem solve. I don't want to be in one classroom all the time.

Louise saw teaching as a profession that will allow her to bal-ance life demands such as work and family, but will also providepractical advantages, such as long vacations, job stability, andmobility if she desires to relocate. Ultimately, she sees herselfworking in the educational consulting field. Thus, teaching wouldbe a temporary career for her, one that would provide enoughexperience to support a transition to a related field. Her teachingintentions were not a priority; teaching would not be her firstcareer choice, nor a lifelong career. Louise saw teaching as a stopgapmeasure: a profession in which she could spend enough time todevelop the professional experience that would position herfavorably for transferring to another field:

Eventually what I want to do is kind of work in a consulting-typerole, like going into programs that aren't working the best thattheycanfor thekids that they're supposed to serve.At themoment,the stuff that I see happening next is teaching for awhile. I actuallyamnot certifiedoranything to teachyet, so in thenextcoupleyearsI want to teach, and go to grad school to get my master's in earlyeducation.

Louise's teaching commitment was temporary because shewanted to advance up the professional ladder. She only came tothink about teaching after considering other career possibilities,and described teaching as a fallback plan, in case other career op-tions did not work out:

I think I'd still keep teaching, but, I don't know for how long. LikeI said it's ‘till the next step opens up, and getting towardswhere Iwant to go, with … restructuring [curriculum] or a broaderscheme or whatever. I don't know if I'll … go into schooladministration for a while; that's a possibility, because at leastthen I would have more influence over how that particularschool's environment was run. And then, maybe move on upfrom there, I don't know.

Among the teaching career advantages Louise mentioned werejob security and the notion of teaching as a family-friendly career.

Her teaching beliefs revolved around teaching disadvantages, andshe characterized teaching as a difficult job with less respect andfewer rewards than other professions:

I think everyone thinks that it's a noble job, but they give them[teachers] no respect. The teacher who I'd be replacing if I getthis job, shewas a new teacher when she started, and she had allthese parents telling her what she should do. And thatcompletely undermines what you're doing as a teacher, becausekids pick up on that. And … there's no respect given to teachersby adults, and so that's why kids don't respect them. And there'snot enough support, there's not enough social support, because,I mean, your job, without money, to actually do it well, to buythe supplies that your kids need, and we're going to questionwhat you're doing the whole way.

When asked to describe her future teaching style, Louise had ahard time elaborating and providing examples. She struggled withproviding specific details about what instructional strategies shepreferred orwould like to use in the future andhowshewould adoptcertain teaching strategies for a diverse population of learners. Also,she had difficulty providing content-area-specific examples ofteaching strategies that she would use in the future. Her responseswere elusive, suggesting lack of knowledge in this area:

I don't really know, because that's one thing that I haven't had alot of experience with. I try to find something that they canrelate to. It's hard, because when you do it with younger kids,you have to rethink how to say everything, and how to put it intheir terms and everything, but I think that it's important first tofind something that can really catch them off guard, or catchtheir interest, and then from there, show how it … fits back in.But as far as … real specific, terminology or whatever, forteaching styles, I can't really think of that, ’cause that's one thingthat I don't really have, an education.

Louise espoused a teacher-oriented approach to instructionin her interview, describing teaching as the transmission ofknowledge and the role of the teacher as the deliverer of knowledge.When asked about her perception of quality teaching and effectiveteachers, she expressed naïve views of teaching, such as thatteachers need to be fun and nice to students. Louise's description ofquality teaching was very brief, mentioning that effective teachersneed to create a safe, caring environment for teaching.

Louise talked about her emotions related to teaching with acertain lack of enthusiasm. Her interview accounts were oftenbased on personal learning experiences, and she often made ref-erences to her past schooling. She gave the impression thatteaching is charged with negative emotional feelings:

I guess in someways it's a little bit scary, just because it's a lot ofresponsibility being in charge of a class of kids who are going totake what you say, even if they don't like you they’re going totake it to heart, and it's going to become hard, especially withthe younger ages. It's a lot of responsibility.

Moreover, Louise's thoughts about interacting with studentssuggested perceptions of difficulty that she associated with estab-lishing a positive rapport with students:

The problems that you see with kids, and having self-controland stuff, is, related to … parents who aren't requiring enoughof them, because they're afraid of the kids not liking them. Ithink it's real similar with teachers … they don't have toimmediately like you [students], as much as they respect you,and then from there … you can move on.

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Additionally, Louise's depiction of her self-image as a teacherwas replete with negative emotional feelings such as anxiety andfrustration:

I think that teachers need a really supportive environment forkids to start with, and, so whenever I work with kids, even ifthey're the ones that are kind of getting on my nerves, anddriving me crazy, and don't have a lot of control over them-selves and stuff, or aren't willing to . . . . I think that it'simportant to pair the discipline and stuff with also findingsomething that you can relate to them about, but being on thelookout, always.

6. Discussion

6.1. Analysis of themes

The teaching goal was discussed for each case study participant asa combination of various factorsdsources of influences in the deci-sion to become a teacher. In-depth case study analysis showed thatmain differences across case studies were revealed in the way par-ticipants described various motivational factors, commitment,teaching beliefs, and emotions. Across interviewdata and the range ofissues discussed, five interrelated themes emerged as central to theexperience of becoming a teacher. These were: motivations, identity,beliefs, emotions, and commitment. These general themes representfactors that influenced PTs' decisions and helped crystalize theirteaching goals. What follows is a cross-sectional analysis of themesand how they pertain to participants' goals of becoming teachers.

6.1.1. MotivationsResearch shows that main motives on entry to teaching are

altruistic and intrinsic in nature, such as the enjoyment of workingwith children and the desire to help them succeed (Watt et al.,2012). Interview results showed that Megan and Cynthia exhibi-ted more altruistic and intrinsic teaching motivations compared toLouise. Louise seemed to be motivated mainly by extrinsic reasonssuch as job security and the flexible schedule that she anticipatedwould allow work/life balance. Teaching was not her first choice ofcareer; it was a career she viewed as temporary and one that wouldallow her to gain experience she could then take into an educa-tional consulting position.

Social relationships have been an important factor in PTs' de-cisions to become teachers. Past, potential, and actual relationshipswith a variety of individuals have been central to the experiences ofPTs. These include relationships with young people including PTs'own children and students from previous jobs, relationships withprevious teachers, and other social relationships with familymembers and peers. Meganwas inspired by friends and students toenter the teaching profession, with her family members being hermajor supporters. Her interview suggested primarily altruisticreasons for teaching and she spoke of the importance of educationand the professional fulfillment a teaching career would offer. ForCynthia, family was not a powerful motivator, but her formerteachers whom she saw as role models were.

Relationships were less influential in Louise's teaching decisioncompared to the other two PTs. Relationships with children andformer teachers in particular have been reported by studies from theUnited States, Turkey, andAustralia to have an important influence onmany PTs' decisions to become teachers (Pop & Turner, 2009;Richardson & Watt, 2005; Saban, 2010; Watt & Richardson, 2008;Thomson et al., 2012). Our results also showed a number of key con-cerns expressed by Louise in particular in her relationships withchildrenandstudents. These largely involved concerns aboutwhethershewould be able to facilitate student learning andmanage behavior.

6.1.2. IdentityIdentity issues are directly related to PTs' teaching commitment.

For Megan, whose teaching choice she perceived as a “calling,”becoming a teacher seemed to mean actualizing an identified po-tential. Megan identified her personal characteristics of fun, loving,sociable, and altruistic as a “must have” for teaching; in this regardshe sees herself as a good fit for the profession. For Louise, however,her initial teaching preconceptions seem to have included aperceived necessity, at least initially, to undergo a transformation ofself in the endeavor to “become” a teacher.

6.1.3. BeliefsTeaching beliefs expressed byMegan and Cynthia were realistic,

both being able to address equally advantages and disadvantages ofteaching. They both described a student-oriented approach to in-struction focused on conceptual learning. However, Cynthia viewedinstruction and the teacherestudent relationship as anchored tothe classroom setting, where the teacher is solely responsible foreducation, while Megan was able to describe instruction moreholistically, as a community effort in which other social entities areinvolved. Louise described teaching as havingmainly disadvantagesand expressed concerns about the teaching profession, such as thelack of respect for and the increased accountability of teachers. Herinstructional views depicted a behaviorist approach, a teacher-centric classroom in which knowledge is transmitted fromteacher to learner.

Megan and Cynthia were able to describe in detail their futureteaching style, presenting examples of teaching strategies and ap-proaches. Megan's and Cynthia's beliefs about teaching, such as astudent-oriented approach, emphasized active learning and indi-vidualized instruction. Such beliefs are described by research asconstructivist instructional beliefs and are aligned with effectiveteaching practices (e.g., Leavy et al., 2007; Patchen & Crawford,2011; Schulte et al., 2008). Louise had difficulty articulating pref-erential instructional strategies and instructional beliefs. Perhapsher field experiences were not as relevant as Megan's and Cynthia'sexperiences; in her interview, Louise talked about how she couldnot see the connection between theory and practice during herteacher training courses.

Our findings related to PTs' beliefs suggest that these beliefs maybe more complex and varied than previous research had shown; itwas only by examining PTs' beliefs by typology that the full range ofbeliefs became apparent. Prior studies have indicated that PTsbelieve direct instruction to be the most effective form of instruc-tion (Saban et al., 2007; Schulte et al., 2008) and that they describeeffective instruction as emphasizing behavioral rather than cogni-tive aspects (Murphy et al., 2004; Roehrig et al., 2008). Otherstudies (e.g., Leavy et al., 2007; Patchen & Crawford, 2011; Wilke &Losh, 2008) show how beliefs can be eclectic and caution against asingular view of prospective teachers in terms of their instructionalbeliefs. The significance of beliefs for a host of teacher behaviors,including pedagogical decisions and commitment to the profession,has been documented in the United States (Smith & Southerland,2007), the United Kingdom (Sharp et al., 2009; Sharp, Hopkin, &Lewthwaite, 2011) and Turkey (Saban, 2003, 2004, 2010), yetworldwide current teacher education programs demonstrate littlesensitivity to the differences in PTs' beliefs, motivations, andteaching goals.

6.1.4. EmotionsGenerally, interview data indicated that all three PTs saw

teaching as a desirable career if they saw themselves as having theknowledge and skills to teach, and if they could associate positiveemotions with teaching. Teaching experience was associated withpositive emotions by Megan and Cynthia, but negative emotions

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were expressed by Louise. Megan had the most favorable views ofteaching and positive emotions about teaching compared to theother two prospective teachers. Her commitment to teaching wasalso verbalized in terms of positive emotions; she wanted tobecome a teacher because “it felt right.” Her statements describedpositive teaching emotions, and she used words such as “love,”“enthusiasm,” and “excited” in her descriptions. Conversely, Louise,whose commitment to teaching was uncertain, used words andphrases that expressed negative feelings when talking aboutteaching, such as “scared,” “challenging,” and “not fun.” These datasupport work on the importance of emotions in the learning, lives,and work of teachers (e.g., Hargreaves, 2005). The strong positiveand negative emotions reported might in some instances be un-derstood as indicators of the perceived level of teaching skills andhave implications on teachers' actions. The interplay betweenclassroom relationships and emotions are important and theyprovide additional support for the findings that they are central toPTs' teaching decisions. Some relationships, particularly with pastteachers or children, seemed to allow participants to deal withemotional vulnerability or helped them develop feelings of confi-dence. All PTs made their initial decision to become teachersbecause they felt they would enjoy the human interaction orbecause they had pleasant memories from their own relationshipsas students with their teachers.

6.1.5. CommitmentAnother important finding from this study related to perceptions

of commitment to teaching. Megan and Cynthia saw themselves asbeing more committed to the teaching profession than Louise did.Though Cynthia intended to pursue a master's degree in anthro-pology, she expressed a strong commitment to teaching and plan-ned to return to the classroom after earning her degree. Louise didnot envision a long-term career as a teacher because she entered theteacher education programwith the intention only to gain teachingexperience that could be leveraged to build another career.

6.2. Implications

Our findings show that PTs' analysis of their professional goals iscomplex and personal and that not all PTs are motivated by thesame types of reasons, nor do they have the same beliefs about orlevels of commitment to teaching. Further, understanding thatteachers can be classified in different typologies based on certainpsychological characteristics and understanding their teachinggoals as unique to these typologies can help teacher educators todesign individualized instruction tailored to PTs' different needs.Moreover, teacher education programs showing increased sensi-tivity to the differences in PTs' entry motivations and beliefs andeven embracing these differences could be a step in combattingextensive teacher attrition by addressing the disconnect betweenPTs' expectations and the realities of the teaching profession.

The first step in being responsive to differences exhibited acrossthe typologies of PTs requires that teacher preparation programsensure students develop a realistic understanding of teaching, sodecisions that PTs make to commitdor notdto the teaching pro-fession are fully informed (Akyeampong & Stephens, 2002; Rotset al., 2012). PTs' experiences in the course of teacher educationprograms and particularly as student teachers should replicate, andnot just approximate, the representative experiences and workingconditions teachers face, replete with the social and emotionalchallenges these entail.

Considering the differences we observed across typologies inparticipants' abilities to articulate beliefs about instruction, ourfindings support Timo�st�suk and Ugaste (2010) assertion that thereis a need for teacher education programs to enhance PTs'

application of pedagogic reasoning so that PTs are equipped withthe knowledge and professional vocabulary necessary to see and beable to describe themselves as teachers. Such opportunities arelikely to be particularly beneficial for Pragmatic teachers like Louisewho have naïve views of teaching and struggle the most withpedagogical descriptions. We caution teacher preparation pro-grams against presenting an overly optimistic view of the teachingprofession that is divorced from the realities of the complexity ofteaching. A mounting body of evidence shows that PTs who arebetter prepared for teaching remain in the profession longer thanthose who are poorly prepared (Guarino et al., 2006; Ingresoll &Smith, 2004).

Additionally, our findings lead us to recommend that teachereducation programs give more consideration to PTs' potentialimpact on student achievement in the context of program goals.Recent econometric research has documented that teacher qualityvaries widely and that this variation has significant impacts onstudent achievement (Aaronson, Barrow, & Sander, 2007; Rivkin,Hanushek, & Kain, 2005); teacher quality has also been shown topredict important long-term outcomes including college atten-dance, future earnings, and housing quality (Chetty, Friedman, &Rockoff, 2011). Our findings support previous research showingthat not all prospective teachers have the intentions of being careerteachers (Smethem, 2007). However, the largest gains from expe-rience have been shown to occur in the first few years of teaching,and this time period has been found to be highly predictive offuture performance (Atteberry, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013; Harris &Sass, 2011). Research conducted in the United States has foundteacher attrition to be highest in the first five years of the teachingcareer and teachers' decisions to stay or leave the professiondirectly linked to student achievement (Henry, Bastian, & Fortner,2011). Additional research from the United Kingdom has shownteachers more likely to remain in the profession and committed toquality instruction if they feel efficacious about their teachingabilities and are supported by the school community in their pro-fessional development (Sharp et al., 2009, 2011). The implicationsof these findings is that PTswho are using teaching as a springboardto another career are likely to leave the profession around the timetheir experience is just starting to pay dividends in terms of studentachievement (Clotfelter et al., 2007).

In considering PTs' teaching goals in the context of sources ofinfluences in their decision to become teachers, teacher educationprograms may better serve both PTs and students of the future byconsidering which typologies will provide high-quality instructionand commit to the teaching profession. Teacher education pro-grams might then support alternate paths within the field of edu-cation for those PTs who, once they closely examine their teachinggoals, determine they do not wish to commit to the teaching pro-fession. Such programs might then offer a “non-practitioner” trackto provide students whose interests lie in fields related to education(e.g., educational consulting) with the knowledge, skills, and ex-periences necessary for success in those fields.

The case study methodology utilized imposes limitations ongeneralizations that findings can support. While participants wereselected from each typology, the case studies are presented as aninitial stage in understanding how PTs from different teaching ty-pologies understand their professional goals. Study participantswere undergraduate students in a traditional teacher educationprogram; thus, the discussed typologies may not be as character-istic of PTs from alternative routes. Limitations are also related toretrospective accounts of participants. Future research couldexplore in greater depth the teaching goal development over time,or could explore PTs' goals with diverse populations from varioussociocultural contexts to better understand how PTs develop andadjust their teaching goals.

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Appendix A

Summary of RTS factors and cluster profiles.

Reasons for teaching scale (RTS) factors Cluster 1: Conventional (n ¼ 70) Cluster 2: Enthusiastic (n ¼ 93) Cluster 3: Pragmatic (n ¼ 52) p<

Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD)

1. Intrinsic reasons 4.38 (.64) 4.60 (.62) 3.76 (.76) .0012. Job benefits 3.40 (.67) 4.12 (.73) 3.39 (.58) .0013. Identity reasons 2.55 (.78) 3.61 (.87) 2.62 (.66) .0013. Meaningful relationships 4.70 (.87) 4.76 (.93) 2.42 (.65) .0014. Altruistic reasons 4.04 (.86) 4.48 (.84) 3.66 (.64) .0015. Opportunities 2.60 (.68) 3.64 (.75) 3.05 (.58) .001

Note. N ¼ 215. Cronbach's a for RTS ¼ .79. Adapted from Thomson et al., 2012.

Appendix B

Coding sample and major categories.

Category Code/Subcategories Brief description

1. Generic motives 1.1 Altruistic reasons (e.g., want to help children succeed)1.2 Intrinsic reasons (e.g., enjoy the activity of teaching)1.3 Extrinsic reasons (e.g., salary, vacations, job benefits)

Generic reasons related to PTs' goals of becoming a teacherand to the teaching career choice

2. Past experiences 2.1 Past school experiences as a Ke12 student2.2 Past school experiences as a college student (preserviceteacher in a teacher education program)

PTs' reasons for teaching related to their school or personalpast experiences

3. Professional experiences 3.1 Previous professional experiences3.2 Previous teaching experiences, or related experiences(e.g., counselor, coach, tutor)

PTs' reasons for going into teaching as related to theirprofessional experiences

4. Relationships 4.1 With children/youth4.2 With previous teachers4.3 With family members4.4.Other social relations (e.g., friends, communitymembers)

Past, potential, or actual relationships with a range of peoplethat have been central to the lived experiences of PTs andtheir teaching career choice

5. Identity issues 5.1 Personality traits (e.g., friendly, caring, energetic,creative)5.2 Pathways to teaching (e.g., switched career choice toteaching, was a “calling,” suited for teaching)

PTs' self-perceptions about their teaching abilities andidentity related motives

6. Perceptions of theteaching profession

6.1 Value or not the teaching profession6.2 High or low social status6.3 High or low financial status

How the teaching profession is perceived by PTs (positiveand negative perceptions)

7. Perceptions of teaching style 7.1 Teacher-oriented style (i.e., disciplinarian, behavioristapproach, teacher-centered instruction)7.2 Student-oriented style (i.e., facilitator, constructivistapproach, student-centered instruction)

PTs' general beliefs/perceptions about teaching style andinstructional approach

8. Emotions 8.1 Positive emotions (e.g., excited, relaxed, happy)8.2 Negative emotions (e.g., nervous, overwhelmed, scared)

Emotions expressed by PTs about teaching

9. Commitment to teaching 9.1 Early commitment9.2 Permanent (full) commitment

PTs' perception of their commitment to the teaching career

9.3 Temporary (partial) commitment

Appendix C

Summary of PTs' teaching goal profiles.

MeganCluster 1: Enthusiastic

CynthiaCluster 2: Conventional

LouiseCluster 3: Pragmatic

- Enjoyment and passion for subject matter;knowledgeable

- Strong altruistic reasons (“desire to serve”);volunteering experience

- Social influence (i.e., family members, previousteacher)

- Opportunities (“gaining professional empowerment”)

- Strong subject matter (content); knowledgeable- Altruistic and intrinsic teaching reasons (willing tohelp, enjoyment for teaching)- Family members less influence (but moreinfluence from previous teachers)

- Motivations related to job benefits, job security- Social relationships less influential in teachingdecision (i.e., family members, teachers)

- Student-oriented instructional views- Beliefs about career “realistic-optimistic” (i.e.,

advantages & disadvantages)- Quality teaching perceived as self-imposed: teachers

are responsible for quality teaching- Professionalism, high work ethic, and dedication

- Beliefs about teaching and learning predominantlystudent-oriented- Beliefs about career mixed; teaching perceived ashaving both advantages & disadvantages- Quality teaching perceived as imposed by both anexternal source (i.e., principal) and self-imposed

- Beliefs about teaching and learning (i.e., schooling)teacher-oriented approach- Beliefs about career more pragmatic; related to jobbenefits, job security, employment availability- Quality teaching perceived as imposed by an externalsource

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(continued )

MeganCluster 1: Enthusiastic

CynthiaCluster 2: Conventional

LouiseCluster 3: Pragmatic

- Previous school experiences positive experiences- Positive emotions about teaching

- Previous school experiences positive; formerteachers influential for strong content knowledge- Emotions about teaching mixed, with morepositive than negative emotional accounts

- Unsophisticated understanding of teaching andinstruction (generic statements, lack of elaboration)- Emotions predominantly negative

- Willing to remain in teaching but expand herprofessional roles (e.g., leadership role in school as ateacher)

- Enacting values in her teaching similar to what shewas taught

- Envisioned teaching in a similar setting she hadexperienced as a Ke12 student

- Willing to remain in Ke12 teaching (even ifobtaining a higher professional degree)- Envisioned teaching in a similar setting she hadexperienced as a Ke12 student

- Willing to stay in Ke12 teaching temporarily- Vague description of her future teaching style orenvisioning herself as a teacher in a particular setting

M.M. Thomson, C. Palermo / Teaching and Teacher Education 44 (2014) 56e68 67

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