The research has proved that the quality of teachers is the most important factor of quality teaching. This fact is also true for early childhood education (ECE) phase as the young children’s first educational experience should be designed and guided by professional and quality educators. In order to perform any work-related task such as teaching, it is of great essence that an individual possesses both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to execute the tasks. Therefore it is critical for teaching professionals to have certain levels of motivation to become good practicing teachers and beneficial agents of the young children’s educational journey. The present study deployed the Self-determination theory (STD) as a theoretical background. According to Deci and Ryan (2000), the founders of SDT, to be motivated refers to be motivated to do something. There are two types of motivation in this theory: (1) intrinsic motivation and (2) extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation means to do something for its inherent satisfaction, whereas extrinsic motivation is defined as doing something because it leads to a separable outcome (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Thus, these two types of motivation are different in terms of the reasons or goals that are the source of impetus or inspiration that give rise to an action, which is teaching young children in this case. An intrinsically motivated person acts based on aspirations or goals such as personal growth, community contribution, or other reasons related to basic need satisfaction. For example, the intrinsic motives of pre-service teachers for teaching include finding teaching interesting or enjoyable, or that they simply like teaching. On the other hand, an extrinsically motivated individual acts based on reasons that are more related to obtaining contingent approval or some kind of external benefit (Deci & Ryan, 2000) such as respect in the society and financial incentives. Without being motivated, it is not logical to expect the prospective teachers to become competent in their professions and contribute the benefits to the young children’s learning process. Further, although there are empirical studies in the Western countries related to this topic, there is a scarcity of existing literature in Turkish context regarding ECE pre-service or in-service teachers’ motivation to teach. In order to fully understand the psychological factors of the educational context in Turkey, it is critical to go beyond the speculations and conduct empirical research to achieve solid scientific data about the subject-matter. Therefore, the present study attempts to understand the Turkish ECE pre-service teachers’ autonomous motivation for teaching, including their (1) intrinsic motivation and (2) extrinsic motivation comprised of identified, introjected, and external motivations. In addition, the effects of age, cohort (grade level), and cumulative grade point average (CGPA) on their motivation for teaching were examined. Hence, the research questions of this study are: (1) What are Turkish ECE pre-service teachers’ motivations for teaching? and (2) What are the main effects of age, cohort, and CGPA on Turkish ECE pre-service teachers’ motivation for teaching?

Participants included 216 Turkish ECE pre-service teachers. A modified version of the Work Tasks Motivation Scale for Teachers (WTMST) was used for this study. The WTMST was originally developed by Fernet, Senecal, Guay, Marsh, and Dowson (2008). Later, Kim and Cho (2014) modified the original items to assess pre-service teachers’ autonomous motivations for teaching. This instrument included four subscales targeting all four constructs of autonomous motivation to teach, including: intrinsic motivation, identified motivation, introjected motivation, and external motivation. Each subscale included three items and all items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The scale ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Reliability analysis was conducted to find out the Cronbach’s alpha value for each construct and for the overall scale. Back translation and content validity procedures were also followed to ensure the usage of scales in Turkish context. Furthermore, the ratio between the number of participants (216) of the present study and the number of items (12) included in the instrument was higher than 10:1, which was satisfactory to run confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Thus, CFA was also conducted by using SPSS Amos to make certain that the factorial structure of the modified WTMST is supported by the data collected from Turkish ECE pre-service teachers. Hypothesis-1: Turkish ECE pre-service teachers generally possess high intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for teaching. Hypothesis-2 : In Turkish ECE pre-service teachers’ motivations for teaching there are differences at different educational levels age, cohort, and CGPA. The researcher used SPSS 21.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for Windows to conduct and complete the data analysis procedure. The author used both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques to analyze the data and answers to the research questions. At the outset, descriptive statistics provided information about Turkish ECE pre-service teachers’ motivations for teaching. Following a preliminary correlation analysis among the dependent variables (DVs), the multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) technique was utilized to analyze the main effects of age, cohort, and CGPA on Turkish ECE pre-service teachers’ motivations for teaching.

Of the 350 distributed surveys, 235 (67.1%) were completed and returned to the author. After eliminating the spoiled surveys, 216 completed surveys were considered for further analysis. The reliability analysis of the scale used for actual was found to be solid. The results of participants‘ autonomous motivation and its relation to their age, cohort, and CGPA will be shared. In addition, in-depth discussion of the results will be held and implications and suggestions for teachers, policy-makers, and other stakeholders will be made available. Moreove, directions for future research will be provided.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination in human behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268. Fernet, C., Senecal, C., Guay, F., Marsh, H., & Dowson, M. (2008). The work task motivation scale for teachers (WTMST). Journal of Career Assessment, 16, 256–279. Kim, H., & Cho, Y. (2014). Pre-service teachers’ motivation, sense of teaching efficacy, and expectation of reality shock. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 42(1), 67–81. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54–67.