Student-teachers' commitment to teaching

In this dissertation, I investigated factors related to student-teachers’ commitment to teaching and intention to enter the teaching profession after graduation. The study gives some explanations why some student-teachers are not committed to enter and stay in the teaching profession for a reasonable period of time and make a career of the teaching profession. The study included a total of 3246 undergraduate student-teachers from one large teacher education university in Tanzania who are preparing to teach in secondary schools and teacher education colleges. Findings indicates that differences in student-teachers’ commitment to teaching can be explained by factors including student-teachers’ sense of teaching self-efficacy, perceived influence of significant others and school conditions, attitudes towards the teaching profession and their teaching subjects, and satisfaction with the teacher education programme. Similarly, this study shows an important relationship between student-teachers’ gender roles and their commitment to teaching, and it identifies different types of student-teachers based on their levels of commitment, motivation to enter the teaching profession, their perceptions of the teaching profession and environmental aspects. These types include: Committed passionate, Committed compromisers, Undecided, and Uncommitted student-teachers. Lastly, using a systematic review approach this dissertation identifies different underlying themes within teacher education that are related to student-teachers’ commitment to teaching.