Student Teachers’ Beliefs and Motivation, and the Shaping of Their Professional Identities

Abstract

Although the field of motivation has received increasing attention over the years, studies have mostly been on student motivation; little attention has been paid to teacher motivation, although there have been a few exceptions (Dörnyei, 2001, 2003). Even more scarce are studies that investigate what motivates student teachers to become EFL teachers. In addition, few studies have focused on understanding how student teachers’ beliefs and their motivation to become teachers relate to the process of forming a professional identity. The importance of this interplay between beliefs, motivation and the formation of a professional identity leads to the need to examine it more closely, and the need to understand how student teachers’ professional identities are constructed during their formal teacher education.