An Analysis of Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes and Opinions Regarding the Teaching Profession via Q-Methodology

Abstract

One of the factors influential on teacher achievement is their attitudes towards the profession. Teacher attitude influences a teacher's satisfaction with their profession, devotion to the profession, belief in the necessity and importance of the teaching profession, and belief in professional development. General evaluation of pre-service teachers' attitudes has yielded positive and high results in a lot of studies. It is believed that pre-service teachers having high attitudes will also have job satisfaction, which will be promising for the future of the teaching profession. However, there are also studies indicating low levels of attitudes among pre-service teachers. In this study, Q-methodology, a reliable method that takes individuals' unique perspectives, was employed to determine students' opinions and perceptions. The present study was carried out with the fourth year students (i.e. pre-service teachers) studying at a university located in the southern part of Turkey. Q-sort results indicate that majority of the pre-service teachers have positive attitudes towards the teaching profession. Qualitative analyses indicate that they have both positive and negative perceptions. Furthermore, three different groups of teachers were formed in the study: idealists, forced teachers, and confused teachers.