Predicting the Academic Achievement of First-Year, Pre-service Teachers: The Role of Engagement, Motivation, ATAR, and Emotional Intelligence

Source: Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 43, Issue 1, 2015, pages 75-91

This study investigates the role of engagement, motivation, Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), and emotional intelligence in the academic achievement of first-year, pre-service teachers.
The participants were eighty-three regionally enrolled pre-service teachers, who completed self-report questionnaires that assessed engagement with learning and emotional intelligence.
The questionnaire data were supplemented with findings from a series of focus groups.

Although ATAR scores were found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement, scores on the Motivation and Engagement Scale emerged as a much stronger predictor of first-year grade point average.
Measures of emotional intelligence did not add to the model.
The results support the need to consider pre-service teachers’ motivation and engagement with learning, especially given the high stakes nature of proposed reforms to initial teacher education programmes.