Motivations to Teach: Psychometric Perspectives across the First Semester of Teacher Education

Abstract

Many studies have investigated preservice teachers’ motivations to teach. However, few studies have (a) used robust measurement methodologies to test the psychometric properties of instruments measuring motivations to teach, (b) attempted to measure changes over time in preservice teachers’ motivations to teach, or (c) attempted to assess the effects that relevant variables such as age or gender may have on temporal changes in motivations to teach. This study sought to address these perceived deficits in the literature. Results indicate that the instrument developed in this study was reliable and valid across two waves of data collection, that preservice teachers’ motivations to teach changed across the course of their first semester of teacher education, and that, in some cases, these changes were related to the age of preservice teachers.