Motivations of pre-service teachers in the colleges of education in Ghana for choosing teaching as a career

This study investigated the motives of pre-service teachers for choosing teaching as a career from one college of education in Ghana. Employing descriptive survey design, the study randomly invited 300 pre-service teachers to participate in the study. Findings from the study showed that pre-service teachers chose teaching as a profession due to their desire to shape the future of children and adolescents, prior teaching and learning experiences, to enhance social equity and perceived teaching ability. The study further showed that female preservice teachers rated job security, time for family, shape future of children and adolescents, and work with children and adolescents significantly higher than males. Also, pre-service teachers who reside in rural areas rated perceived teaching ability and intrinsic career value significantly higher than those who reside in urban areas. It is recommended that authorities at the colleges of education need to attend to excellence in teacher education and optimize support structures to promote and sustain preservice teachers’ positive teaching motivations and behaviours. © 2021 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.