Conceptions of and Motivation for Teaching in Higher Education: An Interview Study among Participants in a Teaching Certificate Program

Abstract

In response to increasing evidence of the need for better preparation for those teaching in higher education, more and more professional development programs are being established to provide faculty and future faculty with pedagogical expertise. The aim of this study was to inform the development and improvement of such programs by analyzing participants' experiences in a teaching in higher education preparation program and developing a conceptual model of motivation for teaching in higher education. Fifteen graduate student instructors who completed a teaching in higher education certificate program at a large, urban university were interviewed using a narrative approach. An initial model based on Personal Investment Theory (Maehr and Braskamp, 1986) was further elaborated on, with the resultant model highlighting the dynamic interplay of teachers' beliefs, purposes, self-perceptions and teaching strategies. The analysis using the model revealed four distinct profiles reflecting diverse motivations and experiences in the professional development (PD) program. These profiles were labeled "The Unchanged," "The Practice Seekers," "The Enlightened," and "The Integrated." The analysis using the model also revealed an array of themes that highlight similarities and differences in participants' construction of their PD experience. These similarities and differences provide insight into the motivational processes that facilitate the formation of teaching identity. Themes that emerged fell into five categories: diversity in self-perceptions, individual differences in component emphasis, variability in utilization of action possibilities, variability in alignment, and variability in change. This emergent model can provide a conceptual tool for future research, as well as a guide for evaluating and designing effective PD for graduate student instructors, and potentially faculty.