Abstract
This paper examined the factors influencing career choice in Nigeria using the (FIT-choice) scale of Watt and Richardson (2007). The study was guided by three research questions and the suitability of the scale for Nigeria was sought. The study used a survey design using purposive sampling technique to obtain a sample of 225 students from the Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. The obtained data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results obtained showed social utility values as the most influential factors in choosing teaching as a career in Nigeria. The study also found that teaching was not only a highly expert career but that undergraduates’ decision to become teachers is a function of satisfaction. The study recommended that both the Federal and State governments should provide better remuneration for teachers to boast their morale.
Keywords: Teacher motivation,Delta state of Nigeria,Career choice,FIT-choice frame work.
Received: 1 November 2019 / Revised: : 3 December 2019 / Accepted:7 January 2020/ Published: 14 February 2020
Contribution/ Originality
The study revealed factors motivating undergraduates to choose teaching as a career in Nigeria. It used the FIT-choice scale as against prior study that only focused on the validation of the scale. It showed that social utility value is the most influential factor for choosing teaching as a career in Nigeria.
1. INTRODUCTION
Teachers, no doubt, are the backbone of the development of any nation’s educational system (Salifu, 2013). According to Nigeria’s National Policy on Education, “no educational system may rise above the quality of its teachers” (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2014). And as such, utmost importance has to be given to teachers to enable them perform their roles in schools. Richardson and Watt (2006) aptly put it that “quality teachers and teaching are central to the development and maintenance of an intelligent, informed citizenry”.
To achieve this, it means that governments must ensure that teachers’ motivation is attended to and that only the best are employed to teach. In the developed nations, there is the problem of shortage of teachers and of teachers equally leaving the profession (Richardson and Watt, 2006; Watt and Richardson, 2007). In the case of Nigeria, though there is shortage of teachers in the schools, there is equally a surplus of trained teachers everywhere waiting to be employed.
According to the FRN (2014) Nigeria requires 1,371,619 teachers for the nation’s educational system. Though this shortage exists, the country through its various institutions has produced abundant graduate teachers who are yet to be employed. The country is facing serious unemployment problem as most states in Nigeria have not employed teachers in the last four to five years nor replaced those retired. Some unemployed trained teachers decide to use motorcycles to carry passengers or do other menial jobs to make ends meet. Even those employed undertake petty businesses to augment their salaries. Teachers earn low pay and are not recognized in Nigeria compared to politicians and other professionals. The conditions of service are not encouraging in Nigeria as those retiring wait for at least over a year before they are paid their gratitude’s and monthly pensions.
The Nigerian government is not helping matters as the budgetary allocation to Education is low compared to other countries. For example, in Indonesia about 20% of the annual national fund is allocated to education (Suryani et al., 2013). Some other countries’ budgetary allocation on Education, according to the 2012 report of the World Bank (Asiyai, 2014) shows that Ghana had 31.0%, Uganda 27.0%, Morocco 26.4%, United Arab Emirate 22.5%, United States of America 17.1%, Columbia 16.5%, Nicaragua 15.0%, India 12.7% and Nigeria 8.4%. The Nigerian situation is even more worrisome when one sees the allocation to defence and internal security being high compared to education and health. According to Asiyai (2014) the monies even allocated to education are only heard as announcements or on pages of newspapers with no proof in the lives of the teachers. This no doubt is a pitiable state. Much of the voted amounts are not released to the Ministry of Education.
Teachers are not respected in Nigeria. The teachers themselves have low self-esteem but this is not the case in other countries like Turkey where teachers are accorded respect despite a low salary (Kılınç et al., 2012). In Taiwan, teachers are accorded respect and are happy with their jobs (Fwu and Wang, 2002). Osunde and Omoruyi (2005) opined that teachers in Nigeria are looked down upon which has led to low esteem and low status of teachers in the society. The poor condition of education leads to brain drain and according to Nwadiani and Akpotu (2002) the best brains with time have left the country and others see teaching as a part-time job. This is not different from what occurs in other African countries and in the developed countries where there is high attrition rate. Looking at this scenario, one wonders why people are still taking to teaching as a career despite the unfavourable conditions.
Studies have shown that there are different factors motivating students to opt for teaching as a career. Jarvis and Woodrow (2005) found in their study that the love to teach was rated as the most important factor. Halawa (2008) revealed extrinsic factors as the most influential factor. Anthony and Ord (2008) in New Zealand and Claeys (2011) in the United States of America showed that the most influential reasons were salaries and job recognition. These findings differ from the ones revealed for Singapore by Mathew (2005) and Australia by Watt and Richardson (2007;2012) wherein job security and time for family were the most influential reasons. In Netherlands, Fokkens-Bruinsma and Canrinus (2012) identified the ability to teach as the highest factor of influence. The differences in the findings point to the fact that undergraduates and practicing teachers in different parts of the world are influenced by a host of factors in the choosing of teaching as a career.
1.1. The Educational System in Nigeria
In Nigeria the formal system of education is made up of three stages which are primary, secondary and tertiary. They are referred to as the 9-3-4 system of education. The first stage of nine years or Basic Education combines the primary school which lasts for six years and the junior secondary school stage of three years. At the end of the six years of primary school the pupils take the first school leaving certificate (FSLC) examination and those who pass are awarded the First School leaving Certificate (FSLC) and can now continue the Junior Secondary School (JSS) for three years. At the end of JSS, the students are made to sit for their Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination and successful candidates are awarded the Junior Secondary School Certificate which is crucial for moving into the Senior Secondary School (SSS) which lasts for three years. At the end, the students take the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSSCE) organized by West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and or the National Examination Council of Nigeria (NECO). The Senior School Certificate (SSCE) is issued to successful students. The SSCE is one of the requirements for undergraduate admission into Nigerian Universities. To be admitted, a candidate must have five credits which includes English Language and mathematics. The second requirement is the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organized by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB). From the UTME performance, a cut-off mark is fixed for all applicants. Those who meet the cut off mark write the Post-UTME screening test of the various tertiary institutions.
The last stage is the tertiary stage which is made up of Colleges of Education, Polytechnics, Colleges of Technology, Health Institutions and the Universities. Each of these stages have varying years of graduation. It is at this level that a career path begins. Those who follow the teaching line, that is education students, are made to write the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Examination upon graduation.
Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate teachers’ motivations for choosing teaching as a career globally. The findings have exposed different reasons. Salifu et al. (2018) in Ghana found that factors such as personal and social utility values which fall under intrinsic factors were the main reasons why teachers opt for teaching. The study by Watt and Richardson (2007) revealed that intrinsic values were highly rated. Erten (2014) affirmed intrinsic factors. Studies by Kilinc and Mahiroglu (2009); Saban (2003) and Sahin (2010) revealed extrinsic motivations as the highest factors for choosing teaching as a career. Ozsoy et al. (2010) found altruistic factors having the highest motivation. The majority of this research was not conducted in Nigeria and besides, the FIT-choice scale that was used by Korb (2010) was not validated for use in Nigeria thus, making the study unique. Korb’s study was in Jos in the Northern part of the Nigeria while this study was in the Southern part of the country. A study like this will make for international comparison about the factors motivating undergraduates to choose teaching as a career. This made the present study justifiable.
The main aim of carrying out this research was to ascertain the factors influencing teaching as a career choice among Nigerian undergraduates using the scale (FIT-choice) of Watt and Richardson (2007). This was necessary as no prior study has been established on the validation of this scale. This will help contribute to the body of literature on factors affecting teaching as a career choice from the Nigerian perspective.
Based on the FIT-choice model, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing undergraduates’ choice of teaching as a career. Specifically, the study also determined undergraduates’ beliefs about teaching and the decision to remain in the profession.
1.2. Research Questions
Based on the above purpose of the study, the following research questions were asked to guide the study.
- What are the factors influencing undergraduates’ choice of teaching as a career?
- What are undergraduates’ beliefs about the teaching career?
- What factors influence undergraduates’ decision to remain in the profession?
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The theoretical framework for this study as shown in Figure 1 is hinged on FIT-choice framework which is based on the theory of expectancy value by Eccles et al. (1983) and Wigfield and Eccles (2000). The FIT-choice framework was developed by Richardson and Watt (2006) and Watt and Richardson (2007) to assess teachers motivation. Since its development, it has been used by various researchers in different countries to investigate factors influencing the choice of teaching as a career. For example, in Ghana, Salifu et al. (2018); in Malaysia, Baker et al. (2014); in Indonesia, Suryani et al. (2013) in Turkey, Kılınç et al. (2012) in the USA, Lawver and Torres (2011) in Netherlands (denBrok et al., 2013) and in Germany (Smith and Pantana, 2010). The choice of this framework was informed by the fact that some of the factors listed in the framework were quite relevant to the teaching profession in Nigeria.
Figure-1. The “FIT-choice” theoretical framework.
Source: Richardson and Watt (2006).
Looking at Figure 1, on the left are the antecedent socialization influences which are social discussion, prior teaching and learning experiences and social influences. These variables influence task, self, values and career perceptions. Task perception consists of task demand and task return. Self-perception deals with individuals perceived teaching abilities. However, the perception of task values consists of intrinsic career value, personal utility and social utility value with their various components as shown in the diagram. On the right is the outcome which is the choice of a teaching career (Suryani et al., 2013).
3. METHOD
3.1. Design of the Study
The study utilizes a survey design to investigate the factors, views and decision of undergraduates’ choice of teaching as a career.
3.2. Population
The population of the study were undergraduates’ offering Education in the Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria in the 2018/2019 academic session. This is the only state university in Delta State. The Faculty of Education, Delta State University runs a four year teacher training programme with three years for those who joined as direct entry students. They start from the two hundred level after obtaining Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) OR Diploma Certificate. Entry into the Faculty is through JAMB and Post UTME.
The sample size of 225 students was obtained by using purposive sampling technique. The instrument was personally administered with the help of two assistants. The students were told the purpose and the sections and items were explained to them before the instrument was administered. They were given enough time and on completion they returned the questionnaire. It took four days to administer the instrument.
3.3. Ethics
The students were told about the nature of the instrument and only those who were willing participated. The students were equally told to feel free to fill the instrument since their names were not written on it. Permission was obtained from Watt and Richardson (2007) before the instrument were distributed.
3.4. The FIT-Choice Scale
The FIT-choice scale by Watt and Richardson (2007) was adapted for the study. The scale consists of four sections, namely A, B, C and D. The A section dealt with demographic information from participants. Section B was on the influential factors affecting teaching choice. Section C was on beliefs about teaching and section D dealt with the decision to become a teacher. The motivation items have a preface of “I choose to become a teacher because ….” The response format was a 7-point scale ranging from “not at all important, low importance, slightly important, neutral, moderately important, very important to extremely important”. The influential factors scale was adapted as four instruments were added and one removed. B54 was removed making it 37 items from the original (Watt and Richardson, 2007) scale. Four items were added that is B55, B56, B57 and B58 (see Appendix). B55 was added based on the popular opinion that teachers can do other businesses after school, and B56 was added because of the view that it is easier to gain admission into teacher education programme. Since the cut-off mark for admission into “Education” is lower than other programmes in the school, B57 was added because there was the opinion that “let me just have a degree and lastly, B58 because of the societal view, that with a first degree “you can work anywhere”. In Nigeria, with a first degree in Education, people can work in ministries, banks, etc. Part C of the instrument which has to do with beliefs about teaching and section D on decision to stay in teaching were adopted. All the items added up to 61 with 41 for section B, 14 for C and 6 for D.
4. ANALYSIS
In the analysis of data, this study utilized both descriptive and inferential statistics. It specifically used the SPSS version 22.00 which according to Pallant (2007) is very reliable for a study like this and analysis. The descriptive analysis involves the Mean and Standard deviations of the various items in the different sections of the instrument. Figure 1 presents the key theorized factors. The result indicated the factors influencing undergraduate students into choosing teaching as a career in Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. Table 1 shows the descriptive results of the influential subscale FIT-choice scale. It was based on the theorized influential factors presented in Figure 1.
Table-1. Descriptive results of the influential subscale FIT-choice scale
Descriptive results
| Factor | Number of items |
Mean |
SD |
| Motivational factors | |||
| Ability/intrinsic career value | 6 |
4.52 |
1.54 |
| Make social contribution / prior teaching and learning experiences | 2 |
4.97 |
1.53 |
| Budging / Time for family | 4 |
4.43 |
1.51 |
| Social influence/Job Security | 4 |
3.52 |
1.47 |
| Work with Children/Adolescents/ Shape Future of Children/ Adolescents/ Enhance Social Equity | 3 |
5.47 |
1.78 |
| Work with Children/Adolescents | 3 |
4.19 |
1.78 |
| Fallback Career | 2 |
3.85 |
1.78 |
| Beliefs Factors | |||
| Good salary/Teacher Morale/Social Status | 4 |
3.48 |
1.58 |
| Teacher Morale/Social Demand/High Demand/ Teacher Morale | 3 |
4.42 |
1.50 |
| Expert career/ High demand | 6 |
5.15 |
1.35 |
| Decision Factors | |||
| Satisfaction with choice | 3 |
4.44 |
1.88 |
| Social dissuasion | 3 |
4.17 |
1.63 |
Source: Watt and Richardson (2007).
The result showed that for motivational subscale, work with children/adolescent, shape future of children / adolescents / enhance social equity was rated highest in the list of factors with a mean (M) of 5.47 and standard deviation (SD) of 1.78. This was followed by making social contribution / prior teaching and learning experience M = 4.97, SD = 1.53. The least influential factor was fallback career; M=3.85; SD =1.78.
4.1. Belief Factors
This section was equally based on the seven theorized factors in Figure 1 which had to do with expert career, high demand, etc. For the belief factors, “expert career / high demand” was rated highest with M=5.15, SD=1.35. This was followed by “teacher morale / social demand / high demand /teacher morale” with M=4.42, SD =1.50. However, “good salary /teacher morale/social status” was rated lowest in the factors responsible for undergraduate students’ choice of teaching as a career. For decision factors, respondents rated “satisfaction with choice” as the higher factor responsible for undergraduate students’ choice of teaching as a career while social discussion was the lower. The motivational factors used by Watt and Richardson (2007) was adopted for this study.
Since the Fit-Choice Scale was initially developed, validated and used in Australia (Watt and Richardson, 2007) the researcher decided to subject it to Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). This was done in order to validate the instrument for use in Nigeria. The result showed that while decision factors loaded correctly in their respective subscales (Watt and Richardson, 2007) the motivational and beliefs factors did not load correctly in their respective subscales. The results are presented as follows:
4.2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) Motivational Construct
In the motivational factors, seven factors were extracted using the eigenvalue rule where only factors with eigenvalue greater than 1.00 were retained for further analysis Pallant (2007). The seven subscales include Ability/Intrinsic Career Value (6 items); Make Social Contribution/ Prior Teaching and Learning Experiences (2 items); Bludging/ Time for Family (4 items); Social Influence/Job Security (4 items); Work with Children/ Adolescents/ Shape Future of Children! Adolescents/ Enhance Social Equity (3 items); Work with Children/ Adolescents (3 items); and Fallback Career (2 items).
As shown in Watt and Richardson (2007) the items overlapped in more than one subscales in five of the seven subscales. For instance, item B5, B19, B12, B1, B7 and B43 (I have the qualities of a good teacher, I have good teaching skills, I like teaching , I am interested in teaching , I have always wanted to be a teacher , Teaching is a career suited to my abilities respectively) loaded in Ability as well as Intrinsic Career Value subscales. This was at variance with the result obtained by Watt and Richardson (2007) wherein they found that items B5, B19 (I have good teaching skills) and B43 were loaded in Ability subscale while items B1, B7and B12 were loaded in Intrinsic Career Value subscale. A total of 15 items were removed from the motivational factor of Watt and Richardson (2007) and two from the ones the researcher added due to their inapplicability to Nigerian setting.
4.3. CFA Beliefs Construct
In the beliefs factor, a total of three subscales were extracted (Watt and Richardson, 2007). They included Good salary/Teacher Morale/Social Status (4 items); Expert Career/ High Demand (5 items); and Teacher Morale/Social Demand/High Demand/ Teacher Morale (4 items). The items were also overlapped in several subscales contrary to what was obtained by Watt and Richardson (2007). For example, items CI - Do you think teaching is well paid?; C3- Do you think teachers earn a good salary?; C9.- Do you think teachers feel valued by the C society?; and C12 - Do you think teaching is a well-respected career?; all loaded in Good Salary/Teacher Morale/Social Status subscales. Watt and Richardson (2007) found in their study that item C12 (Do you believe teaching is a well- respected career?) loaded in Social Status subscale; item C9 (Do you think teachers feel valued by society?) loaded in Teacher Morale subscale; while items Cl - Do you think teaching is well paid? And C3- Do you think teachers earn a good salary? both loaded in good subscale. One item which was removed from the beliefs factor due to its inapplicability to Nigerian setting.
4.4. CFA Decision Construct
In the Decision Factor, items loaded correctly in their various subscales similar to what was obtained in previous studies (Watt and Richardson, 2007; Salifu et al., 2017). Two factors were extracted: Satisfaction with Choice (3 items) and Social Dissuasion (3 items). Items D3- How satisfied are you with your choice of becoming a teacher?; Dl- How carefully have you thought about becoming a teacher?; and D5 - How happy are you with your decision to become a teacher? loaded in Satisfaction with Choice subscale; while items D6- Did others influence you to consider careers other than teaching?; D4- Did others tell you teaching was not a good career choice?; and D2- Where you encouraged to pursue careers other than teaching? loaded in Social Dissuasion subscale. This is similar to what was obtained in the works of Salifu et al. (2017) and Watt and Richardson (2007).
There was however, a little variance with what was obtained by Salifu et al. (2017). In their study, only two items each were loaded in the two factors extracted. Items D6- Did others influence you to consider careers other than teaching?; and D2- Were you encouraged to pursue careers other than teaching? were loaded in Social Dissuasion subscale; while D5- How happy are you with your decision to become a teacher? and D3- How satisfied are you with your choice of becoming a teacher? were loaded in Satisfaction with Choice subscale. Table 2 showed an Average Variance Explained (AVE) and Composite reliability scores of the subscales.
Table-2. AVE and composite reliability scores for FIT-Choice Scale.
| Factors | Average variance explained (AVE) |
Composite reliability |
| Motivational Factors | ||
| Abi1ity / Intrinsic Career Value | 0.46 |
0.84 |
| Make Social Contribution/ Prior Teaching and learning experiences | 0.40 |
0.56 |
| Bludging/ Time for Family | 0.45 |
0.76 |
| Social influence/Job Security | 0.39 |
0.71 |
| Work with Children/Adolescents/ Shape Future of Children/ Adolescents/ Enhance Social Equity | 0.46 |
0.71 |
| Work with Children/Adolescents | 0.46 |
0.72 |
| Fallback Career | 0.35 |
0.52 |
| Beliefs Factors | ||
| Good salary/Teacher Morale/Social Status | 0.51 |
0.80 |
| Teacher Morale/Social Demand/High Demand/ Teacher Morale | 0.39 |
0.81 |
| Expert career/ High demand | 0.58 |
0.75 |
| Decision Factors | ||
| Satisfaction with choice | 0.79 |
0.92 |
| Social dissuasion | 0.55 |
0.78 |
Source: Watt and Richardson (2007).
The AVE was used to examine the discriminant validity while the composite reliability scores was used to examine the convergent validity of the various subscales. In analysing the AVE, the researchers relied on Fornel Larcker’s criterion as suggested by Nunnally and Berstein (1994). The result showed that AVE was within acceptable threshold because it was greater than their respective correlation with other constructs as shown in Tables 3, 4 and 5.
The convergent validity was used to assess the internal consistency of the various indicators of the subscales. The result showed that the composite reliability scores of all the indicators were within the acceptable threshold of above 0.5 (Nunnally and Berstein, 1994) which indicated that the subscales had a good convergent validity.
Table-3. Discriminant validity for motivational factors.
No. |
Factors | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
1 |
Ability/Intrinsic Career Value | 1 |
||||||
2 |
Make social contribution! Prior teaching and1earngexpenences | 0.52 |
1 |
|||||
3 |
Bludging /Time for family | 0.33 |
0.29 |
1 |
||||
4 |
Social influence/JobSecurity | 0.55 |
0.35 |
0.43 |
1 |
|||
5 |
Work with children/ adolescents /shape future of children / adolescents /enhance social equity | 0.57 |
0.44 |
0.40 |
0.38 |
1 |
||
6 |
Work with children/ adolescents | 0.59 |
0.46 |
0.33 |
0.52 |
0.47 |
1 |
|
7 |
Fallbackcareer | 0.07 |
0.08 |
0.17 |
0.01 |
0.12 |
0.05 |
1 |
Source: Watt and Richardson (2007).
Table-4. Discriminant validity for belief factors.
No. |
Factors | 1 |
2 |
3 |
1. |
Good salary/teacher morale/social status | 1 |
||
2. |
Teacher morale/social demand/high demand/teacher morale | 0.37 |
1 |
|
3. |
Expert career/high demand | 0.53 |
0.45 |
1 |
Source: Watt and Richardson (2007).
Table-5. Discriminant validity for decision factors.
No. |
Factors | 1 |
2 |
1 |
Satisfaction with choice | 1 |
|
2 |
Social dissuasion | 0.26 |
1 |
Source: Watt and Richardson (2007).
5. DISCUSSION
Research Question 1: What are the factors influencing undergraduate students’ choice of teaching as a career?
As evidenced from the result, social utility values were the most influential factors. The components of social utility that ranked highest were “shape the future of children/adolescent, enhance social equity and work with children”. This finding agreed with the work of Salifu et al. (2018) in Ghana, Korb (2010) in Nigeria, Kılınç et al. (2012) in Turkey, Suryani et al. (2013) in Indonesia. This finding was not in agreement with the work of Fokkens-Bruinsma and Canrinus (2012) that claimed that ability to teach as the highly rated factor. The fact that social utility values ranked highest could be because, culturally, in Nigeria, the care for younger siblings is one of the roles expected of growing people. In a wider perspective, this could be why undergraduates still take to teaching which is a caring career even though remuneration is not lucrative. Incidentally, fallback career had the least rating suggesting that people take to teaching career because of other superior reasons and not as the least alternative.
Research Question 2: What are undergraduates’ perceptions about the teaching profession? It can be seen in Table 1, that the most influential factor on the belief scale was expert career and high demand which come under task demand. The result made it clear that students have the belief that teaching needs some form of expertise to achieve their goals. This result was corroborated by the findings of Salifu et al. (2018). Worthy of note is that salary ranked low. It therefore implies that despite the fact that salary is low teachers in Nigeria did not attach too much importance to it. This further supports the first finding of motivational influential factors. It is like even though salary is low let us still do our best. This again agreed with Salifu (2013) who worked on improving teacher identity and professional practice. It was found that people go into the teaching profession for selfless motives.
Research Question 3: What are the reasons for undergraduates’ decision to remain in the teaching profession? From the result presented in Table 1, the highest factor responsible for undergraduates to stay in the teaching profession was “satisfaction with choice”. This again was in line with Salifu et al. (2018) findings. This, no doubt, reveals that undergraduates were satisfied with their choice of teaching and are willing to stay. This was not in agreement with some findings from other students where teachers have the desire to leave the teaching profession for example in the Gambia, Cowan (2007). Some other studies have revealed that teachers are not happy with their job and if they have the opportunity they are willing to quit.
Looking at the CFA conducted to ascertain if the FIT-choice scale is applicable in the Nigeria environment, the researcher can say that the results showed positive factor loadings. The belief and decision subscale can be used in Nigeria, as for the influential factors, after the factors that loaded well can equally be used in Nigeria.
6. LIMITATIONS
The research adopted the FIT-choice scale of Watt and Richardson (2007) in Nigeria to investigate the factors influencing undergraduates’ choice of teaching as a career. This research was carried out in one out of the 36 states in Nigeria. It was also limited to Delta State University. To this extent, one cannot generalize to the entire cohort of Education undergraduates in Nigeria. The sample size was small and only undergraduates were used in the study.
7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The above limitations notwithstanding, the study has established that the factors influencing undergraduates’ choice of teaching in Delta State University are not occurring in isolation from what is occurring globally.
Conclusively, the study posited that undergraduates’ decided to choose teaching due to social utility values which are intrinsic factors. It also affirmed that undergraduates’ perceive teaching as being an expert career and in high demand and their decision to stay in teaching career was borne out of satisfaction with choice.
Based on the above conclusions, it is recommended that the Early Childhood care and Education (ECCE) should be part of the undergraduates’ professional preparation. This enables them to understand and work better with children thus giving them job satisfaction.
Secondly, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) must continue its drive of ensuring that only qualified teachers enter the classrooms to teach. TRCN’s insistence that unqualified teachers should either get qualified or quit the teaching profession as of December 2019 should be pursued with vigour.
Since teachers decided to stay in the profession out of satisfaction with choice, the federal and State Ministries of Education in Nigeria, which are responsible for teachers recruitment, discipline and promotion should do what is necessary to keep them in the teaching career by paying them handsomely, promoting them when due and giving them due recognition.
Funding: This study received no specific financial support. |
Competing Interests: The author declares that there are no conflicts of interests regarding the publication of this paper. |
Acknowledgement: The researcher wants to thank the authors of the FIT-choice scale, Helen Watt and Paul Richardson for granting her the permission to use the FIT-choice scale which was adapted. The researcher thanks them for sending the current version of the FIT-choice scale. |
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APPENDIX
Please briefly state your main reason(s) for choosing to become a teacher:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
Part B – Influential Factors (Adapted)
For each statement below, please rate how important it was in Your decision to become a teacher, from 1 (not at all important in your decision) to 7 (extremely important in your decision).
Please Circle the number that best describes the importance of each.
“I chose to become a teacher because…”
| Coding | Factor |
Not at all important |
Extremely important |
| B1. | I am interested in teaching |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B1. |
| B2. | Part-time teaching could allow more family time | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B2. |
| B3. | My friends think I should become a teacher | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B3. |
| B4. | As a teacher I will have lengthy holidays | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B4. |
| B5. | I have the qualities of a good teacher | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B5. |
| B6. | Teaching allows me to provide a service to society | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B6. |
| B7. | I’ve always wanted to be a teacher | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B7. |
| B8. | Teaching may give me the chance to work abroad | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B8. |
| B9. | Teaching will allow me to shape child/adolescent values | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B9. |
| B11. | I was unsure of what career I wanted | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B11. |
| B12. | I like teaching | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B12. |
| B13. | I want a job that involves working with children/adolescents | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B13. |
| B14. | Teaching will offer a steady career path | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B14. |
| B16. | Teaching hours will fit with the responsibilities of having a family | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B16. |
| B17. | I have had inspirational teachers | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B17. |
| B18. | As a teacher I will have a short working day | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B18. |
| B19. | I have good teaching skills | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B19. |
| B20. | Teachers make a worthwhile social contribution | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B20. |
| B22. | A teaching qualification is recognised everywhere | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B22. |
| B23. | Teaching will allow me to influence the next generation | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B23. |
| B24. | My family think I should become a teacher | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B24. |
| B26. | I want to work in a child/adolescent-centred environment | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B26. |
| B27. | Teaching will provide a reliable income | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B27. |
| B29. | School holidays will fit in with family commitments | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B29. |
| B30. | I have had good teachers as role-models | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B30. |
“I chose to become a teacher because…”
| Coding | Variable |
Not at all important |
Extremely important |
| B31. | Teaching enables me to ‘give back’ to society | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B31. |
| B35. | I was not accepted into my first-choice career | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B35. |
| B36. | Teaching will allow me to raise the ambitions of underprivileged youth | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B36. |
| B37. | I like working with children/adolescents | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B37. |
| B38. | Teaching will be a secure job | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B38. |
| B39. | I have had positive learning experiences | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B39. |
| B40. | People I’ve worked with think I should become a teacher | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B40. |
| B43. | Teaching is a career suited to my abilities | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B43. |
| B45. | A teaching job will allow me to choose where I wish to live | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B45. |
| B48. | I chose teaching as a last-resort career | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B48. |
| B49. | Teaching will allow me to benefit the socially disadvantaged | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B49. |
| B53. | Teaching will allow me to have an impact on children/adolescents | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B53. |
| B55. B56. B57. B58 |
Teaching will enable me do business after school It is easier to gain admission into teacher education programme. Teaching just to enable me have a degree With first degree you can work in many places |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
B54.
B56 B57 B58 |
Part C – Beliefs About Teaching
For each question below, please rate the extent to which You agree it is true about teaching, from
1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). Please Circle the number that best describes your agreement for each
| Codingg | Variable |
Not at all |
Extremely |
| Do you think teaching is well paid? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teachers have a heavy workload? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teachers earn a good salary? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you believe teachers are perceived as professionals? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teachers have high morale? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teaching is emotionally demanding? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you believe teaching is perceived as a high-status occupation? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teachers feel valued by society? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teaching requires high levels of expert knowledge? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teaching is hard work? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you believe teaching is a well-respected career? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teachers feel their occupation has high social status? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Do you think teachers need high levels of technical knowledge? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| C15 | Do you think teachers need highly specialised knowledge? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
C15. |
Part D – Your Decision To Become A Teacher
For each question below, please rate the extent to which it is true for YOU, from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely).
Please Circle the number that best describes your agreement for each.
| Coding | Factor |
Not at all |
Extremely |
| How carefully have you thought about becoming a teacher? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Were you encouraged to pursue careers other than teaching? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| How satisfied are you with your choice of becoming a teacher? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Did others tell you teaching was not a good career choice? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| How happy are you with your decision to become a teacher? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
||
| Did others influence you to consider careers other than teaching? | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
Copyright © 2004, Helen M. G. Watt & Paul W. Richardson. All rights reserved.
For information about this work, please contact Helen M. G. Watt and Paul W. Richardson.
Helen Watt, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne VIC 3800, Australia. Tel: (+61 3) 9905-3276, Email: helen.watt@monash.edu. Paul Richardson, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne VIC 3800, Australia. Tel: (+61 3) 9905-2771, Email: paul.richardson@monash.edu
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