Motives of Newly Recruited Polytechnic Teachers for Entering into Teaching Career

Abstract

Teacher is the cornerstone of educational development. Teaching profession attracts different people for different reasons. Motives for joining the profession can have important implications for long-term commitment to teaching. In the present paper, newly recruited polytechnic teachers motives for entering into teaching career are studied. The participants of various Induction Programmes for Newly Recruited Teachers from a state in northern region of India constituted the sample of the study. These teachers were asked to answer two open-ended questions regarding reasons for joining the teaching profession and their future plans. Each participant s responses were checked carefully and coded against the theme to which they belonged. The frequency of each theme was calculated and expressed as percentage: The themes were grouped into three categories: extrinsic, intrinsic and altruistic. Extrinsic reasons are concerned with material benefits such as job security, salaries etc. The motives like ambition to become a teacher, challenging job, respectable job etc. are some of the intrinsic reasons. Altruistic reasons are liking for working with young, learners, contribution to society and the like.