Changes in Student Teachers’ Motives and the Meaning of Teacher Education Programme Quality
Source: European Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 37, Issue 3, 2014, pages 262-278
This study examines possible changes in 83 student teachers’ motives for becoming teachers, their professional commitment and their self-efficacy after a year of teacher education.
Furthermore, the study addresses the extent to which these changes relate to student teachers’ perceptions of their learning environment – specifically, their perceptions of the quality of teaching, generic skills and assessment.
Student teachers completed a survey at the beginning and at the end of a single year of teacher education.
The findings revealed significant changes in their motives and self-efficacy regarding tasks within the classroom and throughout the broader school context.
No relationship between this change and teachers’ perceptions of their learning environment was observed.
Instead, student teachers’ perception of the quality of teaching predicted their assessments of their ability and self-efficacy in a school context at the end of their education.