Pre-service primary education teachers' changing attitudes towards teaching: A longitudinal study

Abstract

This study investigated the longitudinal changes in the attitudes of pre-service primary education teachers towards the teaching profession as they progressed through training. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in preservice teachers' attitudes towards the profession between their freshman and senior years. Moreover, the findings obtained through interview data have shown that both positive and negative changes occur in pre-service teachers' attitudes towards teaching throughout their education, and these changes are observed to be related to teaching practice, cooperating teachers, teacher education institutions and teacher educators. © 2011 Association for Teacher Education in Europe.