Initial education of subject teachers: Motivation, identities, and social and emotional competencies

• Financed by: Ministry of Science and Education
• Duration: 2017 – 2019

The aim of the project is to explore the motivation for teaching and professional identity of future subject teachers, with particular emphasis on the gender dimension of choosing teaching as a career and also on social and emotional competencies of future teachers. Conceptual framework for this research is situated within the Factor Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) model (Watt & Richardson, 2007) and CASEL’s conceptualization of social and emotional competencies (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2008), and its relations with teacher professional development perspective.
The planned sample for this research consists of future subject teachers from different faculties at the University of Zagreb (e.g. in the domains of social sciences and humanities, natural sciences, kinesiology, music and fine art). The following constructs will be examined using the questionnaire: motivation for choosing the teaching profession, social and emotional competences, professional identity, perception of the teaching profession, and gender perspective of the teaching profession (e.g. gender stereotypes about the profession).
The project builds on the Institute’s tradition of scientific research focused on the professional development of teachers. Its contribution is in addressing current topics that are important in the context of educational policies at the international level, such as social and emotional learning and the gender dimension of teaching.