Effect of student teachers’ teaching beliefs and attitudes towards teaching on motivation to teach: mediating role of self-efficacy

The present research aimed to examine the relationships between student teachers' teaching beliefs, self-efficacy and motivation to teach, adopting the correlation research model. The sample consisted of student teachers (n = 447), studying at three faculties of education in Turkey. The measurement scales used in the research were 'teacher beliefs', 'self-efficacy', 'attitude towards teaching', and 'motivation to teach'. According to the findings, all variables were seen to be correlated positively. In order to test the hypotheses of the research, SEM was performed; thus, the indices revealed that the model fitted the data well. Also, it was found that teaching beliefs and attitude towards teaching significantly predicted motivation to teach. Lastly, the self-efficacy was seen to have a mediating role in the interplay between teaching beliefs, attitude towards teaching and motivation to teach.