Seven Motivations for Students Choosing to Major in Elementary School Teacher Education in Higher Education

Abstract

Choosing a career as an elementary school teacher has many challenges as well as fun, not everyone is interested in this profession if not motivated by very strong reasons and motivations. This study aims to analyze what actually motivates students to choose elementary school teacher education majors in college. This research uses a combined qualitative and quantitative method (exploratory mixed methods design). Qualitative data sources were taken from twenty informants through in-depth interviews and analyzed thematically using the NVivo 10 analysis software. Meanwhile, quantitative data sources were taken from one hundred and forty-three respondents using a questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS 20 software. The eight motivations are i) aspiring to become a teacher; ii) like the world of children; iii) elementary school teacher education is the most favorite major; iv) parental encouragement; v) job opportunities after graduation; vi) Accreditation of superior majors; vii) University facilities, and viii) Tuition is relatively cheap. The research has succeeded in revealing the motivation of students to choose elementary school teacher education majors in Higher Education, of course the findings of the results of this study need to be continued by subsequent researchers by examining the relationship between this aspects of motivation with various other variables. However, at least this data can be used as an initial reference to examine these issues and problems in different contexts and issues.