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The Interplay Between the Motivation to Teach and Resilience of Student Teachers and Trainee Teachers

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Resilience in Education

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the interplay of motivation to teach and resilience of pre-service teachers. A questionnaire study with two samples is presented: a group of students at the beginning of their teacher education programme (n = 293) and a group of trainee teachers (n = 126) in the transition between university and school. Both samples completed a questionnaire including the Teacher Resilience Questionnaire by Mansfield (Teacher resilience questionnaire. Murdoch University, Perth, 2013) and the Motivational Orientations to Teach Survey by Sinclair (Asia-Pac J Teach Educ 36:79–104, 2008a). Besides a significant correlation between resilience and the intrinsic motivation to teach, it became apparent both students and trainee teachers were distinctly driven more by intrinsic motives regarding the motivation to teach than by extrinsic motives. Whilst resilience was altogether equally pronounced in both groups, significant differences were apparent regarding the emotional dimension of resilience and regarding the kind of the motivation to teach. The fact that trainee teachers show significantly lower values regarding the emotional dimension of resilience and the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation could be the result of a “reality check” caused by first teaching experiences.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Germany, the practical training of teachers consists of two parts, a university part and a practical part. The practical part follows the Master’s programme and lasts 18 months. During this time, the trainee teachers sit in on lessons given by their teaching mentors, teach under guidance and also teach independently.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Lucas Lohbeck

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  1. Lucas Lohbeck
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Correspondence to Lucas Lohbeck .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Marold Wosnitza

  2. ISPA-Instituto Universitário/CIE – ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal

    Francisco Peixoto

  3. School of Education, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Susan Beltman

  4. School of Education, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Caroline F. Mansfield

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Lohbeck, L. (2018). The Interplay Between the Motivation to Teach and Resilience of Student Teachers and Trainee Teachers. In: Wosnitza, M., Peixoto, F., Beltman, S., Mansfield, C.F. (eds) Resilience in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76690-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76690-4_6

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