Motivation and Satisfaction with Choosing a Teaching Career as Perceived by Students and Teachers
Abstract
Research Aim: The aim of the study was to identify differences in motivation for and satisfaction with choosing the teaching profession between working teachers and students preparing to become teachers.
Research Methods: The study used an original survey created by the author and a motivation questionnaire based on Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory, adapted to the teaching profession. The questionnaire consisted of 19 items measuring three dimensions of motivation for choosing the teaching profession: autonomous motivation (intrinsic motivation, integration, and identification), controlled motivation (extrinsic motivation and introjection), and amotivation (lack of motivation). The questionnaire also included two other questions, about satisfaction with the choice of profession and the extent to which the choice of the career had been thought over. The statistical analysis was performed using TIBCO Statistica 13.3 software.
Brief Description of the Issue Context: The self-determination theory (SDT) allows for extensive research on human motivation (Liu et al., 2016). In this context, fostering the autonomy of both teachers and students has significant advantages in terms of educational outcomes compared to control-oriented strategies, i.e., those which rely more on extrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan, 2016).
Research Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the individual dimensions of motivation between working teachers and students. Among the respondents, autonomous forms of motivation were at the highest level, controlled motivation was at a slightly lower level, and amotivation reached the lowest level. However, it was noted that as many as one third of the teachers were not satisfied with their chosen career and were thinking of changing jobs. Those studying preschool and early childhood pedagogy had higher levels of autonomous and controlled forms of motivation and lower levels of amotivation compared to female students of speech therapy.
Conclusions and Recommendations: Due to the high percentage of people thinking about changing their profession, changes are needed that could increase the sense of satisfaction among teachers. It is also worth designing behavioral interventions that could encourage behavior that supports autonomous forms of student motivation.
References
Ahmadi, A., Noetel, M., Parker, P., Ryan, R. M., Ntoumanis, N., Reeve, J., Beauchamp, M., Dicke, T., Yeung, A., Ahmadi, M., Bartholomew, K., Chiu, T. K. F., Curran, T., Erturan, G., Flunger, B., Frederick, C., Froiland, J. M., González-Cutre, D., Haerens, L., & Lonsdale, C. (2023). A classification system for teachers’ motivational behaviors recommended in self-determination theory interventions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(8), 1158–1176. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000783
Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good but relevance is excellent: Autonomy affecting teacher behaviors that predict students’ engagement in learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709902158883
Baard, P. P., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Intrinsic need satisfaction: A motivational basis of performance and well-being in two work settings. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 2045–2068. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02690.x
Bajcar, B., Borkowska, A., Czerw, A., & Gąsiorowska, A. (2011) Satysfakcja z pracy w zawodach z misją społeczną. Psychologiczne uwarunkowania [Job satisfaction in professions with a social mission. Psychological conditions]. Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.
Bańka, A. (2000) Psychologia organizacji [Organizational psychology]. In J. Strelau (ed.), Psychologia. Podręcznik akademicki [Psychology: An academic handbook] Vol. 3. Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe.
CBOS. (1999). https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/1999/K_032_99.PDF.
CBOS. (2013). https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2013/K_164_13.PDF.
CBOS. (2019). https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2019/K_157_19.PDF.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Colares, A. C. V., Castro, M. C. C. S., Barbosa Neto, J. E., & Cunha, J. V. A. D. (2019). Teacher motivation in stricto sensu postgraduation: An analysis based on self-determination theory. Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, 30, 381–395. DOI: 10.1590/1808-057x201909090
Dąbrowska E. T. (1999). Nauczycielu jaki jesteś? [Teacher, what are you like?]. Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna.
Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic Motivation. Plenum.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. DOI:10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). Optimizing students’ motivation in the era of testing and pressure: A self-determination theory perspective. In Liu, W. C., Wang, J. C. K., & Ryan, R. M. (Eds.), Building autonomous learners: Perspectives from research and practice using self-determination theory (pp. 9–29). Springer Singapore.
Eyal, O., & Roth, G. (2011). Principals’ leadership and teachers’ motivation: Self‐Determination theory analysis. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(3), 256–275. DOI:10.1108/09578231111129055
Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-Determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 331–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.322
Gillet, N., Vallerand, R. J., & Lafrenière, M. A. K. (2012). Intrinsic and extrinsic school motivation as a function of age: The mediating role of autonomy support. Social Psychology of Education, 15(1), 77–95. DOI:10.1007/s11218-011-9170-2
Howard, J. L., Bureau, J, Guay, F., Chong, J. X. Y., & Ryan, R. M. (2021). Student motivation and associated outcomes: A meta-analysis from self-determination theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 16(6), 1300–1323. DOI: 10.1177/1745691620966789
Królikowska, A., & Topij-Stempińska, B. (2016). Wizerunek nauczyciela we współczesnym społeczeństwie polskim [The image of the teacher in modern Polish society]. Edukacja Elementarna w Teorii i Praktyce, 9(31/1), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.14632/eetp_31.1
Kwiatkowski, S. M. (2008) Oczekiwania społeczne wobec nauczycieli – w kierunku szlachetnej utopii [Societal expectations of teachers: Towards a noble utopia]. In B. Muchacka & M. Szymański (Eds.), Nauczyciel w świecie współczesnym. Wydawnictwo Impuls.
Liu, W. C., Wang, J. C. K., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). Understanding motivation in education: Theoretical and practical considerations. In W. C. Liu, J. C. K. Wang, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Building autonomous learners: Perspectives from research and practice using self-determination theory (pp. 1-7). Springer Singapore.
Pelletier, G. L., Seguin-Levesque, C., & Legault, L. (2002). Pressure from above and pressure from below as determinants of teachers’ motivation and teaching behaviors. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 186–196. DOI:10.1037/0022-0663.94.1.186
Pelletier, L. G., & Rocchi, M. (2016). Teachers’ motivation in the classroom. In W. C. Liu, J. C. K. Wang, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Building autonomous learners: Perspectives from research and practice using self-determination theory (pp. 107–127). Springer Singapore.
Reeve, J., & Cheon, S. H. (2021). Autonomy-Supportive teaching: Its malleability, benefits, and potential to improve educational practice. Educational Psychologist, 56(1), 54–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2020.1862657
Roth, G., Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2007). Perceived autonomy in teaching: How self-determined teaching may lead to self-determined learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 761–774. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.4.761
Roth, G., Assor, A., Niemiec, C. P., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2009). The negative emotional and behavioral consequences of parental conditional regard: Comparing positive conditional regard, negative conditional regard, and autonomy support as parenting practices. Developmental Psychology, 45, 1119–1142. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015272
Ryan, R. M. (2006). Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. Journal of Personality, 63(3), 397–427. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1995.tb00501.x
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000a). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000b). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
Ryan, R. M., Mims, V., & Koestner, R. (1983). Relation of reward contingency and interpersonal context to intrinsic motivation: A review and Test using cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(4), 736–750. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.736
Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. WH Freeman.
Smak, M., & Walczak, D. (2015) Pozycja społeczno-zawodowa nauczycieli Raport z badania jakościowego [Social and professional position of teachers: A qualitative research report]. Instytut Badań Edukacyjnych.
Stone, D., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Beyond talk: Creating autonomous motivation through self-determination theory. Journal of General Management, 34, 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/030630700903400305
Su, Y.-L., & Reeve, J. (2011). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of intervention programs designed to support autonomy. Educational Psychology Review, 23(1), 159–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9142-7
Suchodolski, B. (1980). Pedagogika. Podręcznik dla kandydatów na nauczycieli [Education: A handbook for teacher candidates]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
SW Research Institute. (2023). https://swresearch.pl/ranking-zawodow.
Taylor, G., Jungert, T., Mageau, G. A., Schattke, K., Dedic, H., Rosenfield, S., & Koestner, R. (2014). A self-determination theory approach to predicting school achievement over time: The unique role of intrinsic motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39(4), 342–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2014.08.002
Tchorzewski, A. M. (2018). Wstęp do teorii wychowania [Introduction to the theory of education]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Ignatianum w Krakowie.
Vallerand, R. J. (2016). The dualistic model of rassion: Theory, research, and implications for the field of education. In W. C. Liu, J. C. K. Wang, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Building autonomous learners: Perspectives from research and practice using self-determination theory (pp. 31–58). Springer Singapore.
Vasconcellos, D., Parker, P. D., Hilland, T., Cinelli, R., Owen, K. B., Kapsal, N., Lee, J., Antczak, D., Ntoumanis, N., Ryan, R. M., & Lonsdale, C. (2020). Self-determination theory applied to physical education: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(7), 1444–1469. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000420
Copyright (c) 2024 Weronika Pudełko, Agnieszka Wojtowicz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
- The Author/Authors agree(s) to publish the article free of charge in Multidisciplinary Journal of School Education in English or Spanish. The Editorial Board reserves the right to shorten the texts and change the titles.
- As part of free publication mentioned in § 1, the Author/Authors agrees to make the full electronic version of their article available in the Internet.
- The Author/Authors agrees to index their article in databases at home and abroad, including abstracts and keywords as well as Author's/Authors’ affiliation in English and in other languages. The Author/Authors agrees to pass on the information mentioned above to the owners of these databases.
- The Author/Authors declares that their publication is original and does not include borrowings from other works which might cause Publisher's responsibility, does not infringe the rights of the third party and that their copyright on this publication is not limited. The Author/Authors will incur all the costs and will pay compensations which might result from the mendacity of the following statement.
- The Author/Authors declares to bear complete responsibility for the scientific reliability of the article submitted. The detailed contribution of all co-authors is defined.
- The Author/Authors declares to publish the text in the Multidisciplinary Journal of School Education under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-ND 4.0).
- For more than one author, please complete the Authorship Contributions and send it to the editorial office. Please indicate the specific contributions made by each author (list the authors’ initials, e.g., JKH). Please download, complete, scan and attach the file in the system during the submission process.
Authors Statement - Authorship Contributions
