Socits - Predictor For Pre-Service Efl Teachers’ Choices To Pursue Teaching Career

Abstract

Sense of Coherence (SOC), an inner resource that exists within people, is positively associated with better quality of life and satisfaction. It is related to how well people manage to cope with the stressful situations they face making them more comprehensible, meaningful and manageable. Among college and university students SOC is positively associated with the capability to cope with the academic challenges posed upon them. Furthermore, pre-service teachers show that Sense of Coherence in Teaching Situations (SOCITS) has been found to be a coping strategy that helps them perceive stressful and challenging teaching situations as less perplexing. However, what is less clear in the teacher education literature to date, is to what extent high levels of SOCITS can influence career engagement among pre-service teachers and whether it can be a predictor of pre-service teachers' choices to pursue a career in teaching upon graduating from their teaching training program. The current paper contributes to the understanding of SOC and SOCITS among pre-service teachers. The findings in this paper may advance the knowledge in the field of pre-service education and have significant implications as to the development of teacher training programs.