PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Abstract

Keeping in mind the necessity of pre-school service training and the motivational factors that impel a teacher trained before taking on the professional teaching mantle, we engaged in this exploration as specifically anchored within a Pakistani context. Resultantly, the present development study was an attempt to investigate the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of pre-service teachers towards becoming full-time teachers during their two years of pre-service training session. The sample of the study included fifty prospective teachers enrolled in the two years' M.A Education program at International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan for the session of 2009-2011. The data was collected through a self-developed questionnaire consisting of 24 items. It was divided into two major parts. The first part consisted of 12 statements related to Intrinsic Motivation and the second part consisted of 12 statements related to Extrinsic Motivation. It was a longitudinal study. The prospective teachers filled the same questionnaire four times at the end of each semester. The findings of the study revealed that there was a visible increasing trend in the Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation level of the prospective teachers during their two years pre-service training session (from semester I-IV). Intrinsic motivation was observed under a variety of variables. These included admiration, security, the inspiration to opt for the profession, willingness for social service, and the love to share knowledge with others; an internal spirit to increase knowledge and a feeling for the profession as the most viable means of self-expression. The findings of this exploration revealed an increase was observed in the intrinsic motivation of the prospective teachers within the two years of pre-service training session. In the second part of the study, extrinsic motivation was also observed and recorded on the basis of a set of variables. These variables included external motives in opting for the profession, social status and economic status. The findings of the study showed the most pronounced increase in the extrinsic motivation of the prospective teachers within their two years of pre-service training session.