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Teacher Education  \n\n| Volume 42 | Issue 2 | Article 3 |\n| --- | --- |\n| 2017\u003Cbr>Teaching as a Career Choice: Triggers and\u003Cbr>Ee Ling LOW\u003Cbr>National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, [eeling.low@nie.edu.sg](eeling.low@nie.edu.sg)\u003Cbr>Pak TeeNG\u003Cbr>National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, [paktee.ng@nie.edu.sg](paktee.ng@nie.edu.sg)\u003Cbr>Chenri HUI\u003Cbr>National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, [chenri.hui@nie.edu.sg](chenri.hui@nie.edu.sg)\u003Cbr>Li CAI\u003Cbr>National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, [li.cai@nie.edu.sg](li.cai@nie.edu.sg) | Drivers |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nLOW, E., NG, P., HUI, C., & CAI, L. (2017). Teaching as a Career Choice: Triggers and Drivers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 42 (2).  \n[http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2017v42n2.3](http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2017v42n2.3)  \nThis Journal Article is posted at Research Online.  \n[http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol42/iss2/3](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol42/iss2/3)  \nAustralian Journal of Teacher Education  \nTeaching as a Career Choice: Triggers and Drivers  \nEe Ling Low  \nPak Tee Ng  \nChenri Hui  \nLi Cai  \nNanyang Technological University, Singapore  \nAbstract: Why people are drawn to teaching has been a focal research  \narea. However, previous studies seem to centre on the traditional  \nconceptualisations of intrinsic, altruistic, and extrinsic motivations as  \nwell as some other similar categorisations. This study attempts to  \ndiscuss the issue from a different conceptual stance, proposing a  \ndistinction between the “triggers” and the “drivers”. The influences  \non the motivation for joining teaching were explored through in-depth  \ninterviews with 26 student teachers. Results show that student  \nteachers’motivations for joining teaching in Singapore may differ in  \nimportant ways from that of their counterparts in other places. More  \nimportantly, the results highlighted differences between “triggers”  \nand “drivers” as well as the inter-relatedness between them. Some  \npractical implications are drawn for teacher education both within  \nSingapore and internationally.  \nKeywords: teaching as a career choice, triggers, drivers, student teachers, interviews, Singapore  \nIntroduction  \nMany previous studies have focused on the topic of why people are interested in joining the teaching profession (see Heinz, 2015) . However, most existing literature on this topic adopts the traditional conceptualisations of intrinsic, altruistic and extrinsic motivations. They do not seem to separate the influencing factors that trigger one’s interest in teaching from those that drive one into teaching – what we call the “triggers” and the “drivers”. In this study, we argue that in many cases, the factors that attracted one in the first place may not be the same as that finally made him/her decide to go into teaching. Our study strives to explore and substantiate this argument by examining student teachers’ motivations to choose teaching as a career in Singapore, with a special focus on the conceptual and practical distinctions between the triggering factors and the driving factors, as well as the relationships between them. Looking at teaching motivations from the perspective of triggers and drivers advances the existing literature on this topic. At the outset, we should acknowledge that it is not possible to totally distinguish the “triggers” from the “drivers”, but as our findings suggest, they are not parallel concepts either. We believe that the conceptual differentiation between the two may deepen our  \nVol 42, 2, February 2017 28  \nAustralian Journal of Teacher Education  \nunderstanding of teaching motivations, and therefore help inform policies and practices on teacher recruitment and retention.  \nThis paper will first introduce the Singapore context to illustrate its contextual uniqueness and its potential ","cbCaisqeS7rejHh8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisqeS7rejHh8","pdf",470275,"English","# Introduction\n# The Singapore Context","[{\"question\":\"What is the main distinction proposed in the study?\",\"answer\":\"The study proposes a conceptual distinction between “triggers” and “drivers,” arguing that factors attracting people initially may differ from those that ultimately lead them to enter teaching.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the researchers investigate student teachers’ motivations?\",\"answer\":\"They explored influences on motivation through in-depth interviews with 26 student teachers.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the results highlight about student teachers in Singapore?\",\"answer\":\"The results indicate that student teachers’ motivations in Singapore may differ from those in other places, and they show differences and inter-relatedness between triggers and drivers.\"}]","Teaching as a Career Choice: Triggers and Drivers - Issue 3 | PDF",1792077799]