Teacher education students’ initial expectations of the teaching profession Katja Depolli Steiner
Summary: This paper presents the results of a study of teacher education students’ initial expectations of the teaching profession. Using a sample of 297 first-year master’s students enrolled in two-year teacher education programmes at the Faculty of Arts, we found that students’ expectations of the teaching profession are generally optimistic, particularly expectations of working with students and expectations of satisfaction with the profession. Significant differences were found between groups of students with different intentions to teach. Higher determination to teach appears to be associated with greater optimism. Optimistic expectations are also positively related to the experience in teaching or working with students that teacher education students have acquired prior to their first practicum during their teacher education programme. The study’s findings have some practical implications for teacher educators.