Motivation and commitment of English student teachers of some Universities in Indonesia

Abstract

Teachers play crucial roles; therefore, this study is intended to examine student teachers' motivation (instrumental vs. integrative) and commitment (committed passionate, committed compromiser, undecided and uncommitted) to teaching. Quantitative approach using a questionnaire was conducted involving 328 English student teachers from some universities in Indonesia. Using the descriptive analysis, the findings show that those having integrative motivation are 56% and the highest figure for the level of commitment is, as expected, committed passionate (44%). Concerning gender differences, more males (M: 60%, F: 55%) were surprisingly found to have integrative motivation, although more females were found to have the highest level of commitment (M: 35%, F: 47%). These findings at the same time reveal a considerably high proportion of those who did not have a genuine motive to enroll in a teacher education programme and to commit to becoming teachers implying necessary measures from both the government and the teacher education institutions.