The interest of Education students in teaching^I

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the representations of Education undergraduates about the teaching profession as well as to understand their interest in being a teacher, especially in early childhood, primary and secondary education. Research included 120 students from the Education degree course at Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), both in an intermediate or senior stage. Students were asked to answer a self-applicable questionnaire that inquired about their representations about being a teacher, how they evaluated the choice for that specific degree and their interest in the teaching profession. Data was statistically treated and contents were analyzed according to Bardin (2010). The main results include that students gave high importance to teachers for society but they acknowledge that the profession is not socially valued, a factor that emerged as one of the major reasons for dissatisfaction at the choice of the Education degree. Even though a significant number of respondents (79.8 percent) mentioned their intention of being a classroom teacher, most of them did not show interest in a long-term (over 10 years´ time) dedication to this activity. Results allowed to consider that, although the positive image of teacher´s social role contributes to add interest in or admiration for the profession, this sole aspect seems insufficient to motivate the permanence of students in such career, pointing to the need for changes in the working conditions and in the context of social devaluation of the teaching profession, aspects perceived as negative by these students.

Teaching profession; Interest in teaching; Social representation of teacher