Pre-Service Teachers’ Career Choice Motives: A Scale Development Study

Abstract

In the present study, it is aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale to examine the factors playing role in the career choices of pre-service teachers studying in different teacher education programs. Accordingly, the scale was developed with the data gathered from 360 pre-service teachers studying in different departments of the education faculty of a state university in the Central Anatolian Region in Turkey in the 2018-2019 academic year. Only freshmen students were included in the sample and thereby their motives for choosing teaching profession were examined in the time period when they had just started teacher education programs. The scale development process started with the generation of the item pool based on a literature review and studies of validity and reliability followed this phase. Specialists’ opinions were resorted to for content validity and the construct validity was tested through exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach’s Alpha values were examined for reliability. As a result of the validity and reliability studies, it is put forth that the 26-item scale consisted of five factors which are advantages of profession, pedagogic interest, belief in talent, social effects and lesser difficulty level of teaching programs. The validity and reliability values of the scale suggest that it is a valid and reliable instrument to be used in studies related to pre-service teachers’ motives in career choices.