Factors Affecting the Career Choice of First-Year Student Teachers

Abstract

The lack of appropriately qualified teachers in South Africa is growing rapidly and frequency of debates about the decline in teacher numbers in South Africa is increasing. In this study, the results of an investigation into possible factors that impact on the career choice of student teachers are reported. The reasons why first-year student teachers at the University of Pretoria chose teaching as a career were studied by using a non-experimental design (survey design; administering a non-standardised questionnaire). The results revealed inter alia that a number of factors influence the career choice of first-year student teachers. Trends that emerged from the current study include the following: many more women than men enter the teaching profession; relatively few students who speak an African language choose education as a field of study and the role of parents in helping their children to choose a career cannot be underestimated.

Optimal Experience Among Teachers: New Insights Into the Work Paradox

“…As repeatedly shown (Bakker, 2005;Reeve & Jang, 2006;Salanova et al, 2006;Shernoff & Csikszentmihalyi, 2009), students' well-being and academic performance are deeply intertwined with teachers' educational styles and satisfaction with their work. In particular, finding optimal experiences at work can represent an indicator of teachers' well-being and commitment to their institutional role, in the face of the growing international concern for the increasing burnout rate among these professionals (Loonstra, Brouwers, & Tomic, 2009;Otero-Lopez, Castro, Villardefrancos, & Santiago, 2009;Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2009), and the decreasing number of young people choosing teaching as their job (Maree, Hislop-Esterhuizen, Swanepoel, & van der Linde, 2009;OECD, 2005). Considering these premises and teachers' high risk of emotional exhaustion, Study 2 was conducted at the beginning of a refresher course directed to this category of professionals.…”

In-depth Analysis of How Prospective Social Studies Teachers Make Sense of Their Career Choice Decisions

“…People develop certain stereotypes about teaching as a career as well, and those stereotypes eventually play a considerable impact on people's preference of teaching as a career. There are several studies (e.g., Foster & Newman, 2005;Johnston et al, 1999;Krečič & Grmek, 2005;Maree et al, 2009;Saban, 2003;Smedley, 2007) demonstrating evidence of the stereotypical belief that the teaching profession belongs to, or is more appropriate for, women. Because of this stereotypical belief, especially in earlier grades, many more women than men choose the teaching profession and this eventually leads to the feminizing of the profession in many societies around the world (Özoğlu, Gür, & Altunoğlu, 2013).…”

The happy learner: Effects of academic boredom, burnout, and engagement

“…South African learners performed significantly poorer than most other countries in the TIMSS and struggle to deal with mathematical problems involving language (Maree et al, 2006). The reformation of the schooling system since the advent of democracy in South Africa, aimed to help learners to acquire skills to be lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and problem solvers (Maree et al, 2006). Despite several changes in the South African curriculum, learners still perform poorly in mathematics which has a negative impact on their future job opportunities.…”