Examination of Vocational Motivations of Physical Education and Sports Teachers in Terms of Some Variances

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the professional motivations of Physical Education and Sports Teachers. The study group included totally (n=300) 93 female and 207 male physical education and sports teachers working in; Erzurum (n=30), Yozgat (n=22), Kayseri (n=30), Nevsehir (n=56), Aksaray (n=22), Ankara (n=52), Istanbul (n=44) and Kirsehir (n=40) provinces. The research was made in 2017–2018 academic year. As a data collection tool “Vocational Motivation Scale”, which consists of 24 items, was developed by Ural (1996). SPSS 22.0 package program was used for statistical analysis of the acquired data and results were evaluated at p<0.05 meaningfulness level. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a meaningful difference in physical motivation of physical education teachers according to age and seniority, and it was determined that there was a significant difference when their vocational motivations were determined by gender.

Physical education teacher motivation: A conceptual review and reconceptualisation

“…As research on job demand/resource and worker motivation has shown that without sufficient external rewards as necessary resources, worker intrinsic motivation cannot be sustained for long. Most physical education teachers in Turkey explicitly expressed that working for financial compensation motivates them (Var & Yildiz, 2019) and most of the best teachers in the United States cited the same reason as the motivation to acquire the National Board Certification (Woods & Rhoades, 2010). Therefore, solely relying on strategies promoting intrinsic motivation may be unrealistic.…”

“…Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation in which an individual engages in an activity due to the controlling effects of external factors such as receiving tangible or symbolic rewards or complying with an external contingency imposed by those in control (Ryan & Deci, 2000). As illustrated in the review, physical education teachers do value extrinsic rewards as a source of motivation (Woods & Rhoades, 2010) as much as they value the intrinsic value of teaching (Carson & Chase, 2009; Var & Yildiz, 2019; Woods & Rhoades, 2010).…”

“…In most states, the certification brought an average 12% salary increase for 10 years as well as 'the best teacher' reputation (Woods & Rhoades, 2010). Var and Yildiz (2019) surveyed 300 physical education teachers in Turkey and found most teachers (~90%) were equally motivated by intrinsic factors such as 'I love my job' (91%), 'I am doing my job/mission in a right way' (96%), and 'It makes me happy to think that I am successful in doing my job' (93%) as well as extrinsic factors such as 'Whether I want or not, the conditions make me to do this job' (88%), 'It is a treasure to have a job' (93%), and 'I do not do this job if I don't need money' (90%) (p. 223). It is surprising, though, that 90% of the teachers were ready to give up teaching physical education when responding to the statement, 'I can give up my profession and do a job in another field ' (p. 223).…”

“…Research on the physical education teacher job environment and their motivation has focused on teacher motivation profiles (Moreira et al, 2002), work conditions (Whipp et al, 2007), motivation factors (Woods & Rhoades, 2010), and supportive conditions of the job (Var & Yildiz, 2019). Adopting a teacher motivation investment model, Moreira et al (2002), in England, profiled 183 physical education teachers' expectancy‐value theory motivation in relation to their job satisfaction/dissatisfaction, personal motivation investment (Lindholm, 1997) operationalised as intrinsic and extrinsic resources, and career intention along with their job commitment.…”