Motivation to Become a Vocational Teacher As a Second Career: A Mixed Method Study

Abstract

AbstractWithin the school-based vocational education and training system, so-called hybrid teachers, i.e. who both work in a vocational school and a business, can add value to the quality of VET as well as can solve ageing and the threat of shortages among VET teachers. In this research, the motivation of becoming a VET teacher as a second career and its perception by participants were examined using a mixed-method explanatory sequential study design. In the first phase, 114 VET teachers from 33 VET institutions in Lithuania were surveyed using the Factors Influencing Teaching (FIT) Choice scale. In the second phase, five vocational teachers were interviewed. The qualitative results supported and complemented the results of quantitative research by emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivation to teach and explained in-depth the components of antecedent socialisation and perceptions of teaching. The results were discussed considering similar studies on second-career teachers conducted in other countries.