Why Pursue a Career in Teaching Agriculture?: Application of Self-Determination Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

Given the shortage of agriculture teachers across the country, understanding individuals’ motivation to teach agricultural education is critical to developing strategies for teacher recruitment and teacher education. Several studies have investigated factors that motivate preservice and in-service agriculture teachers to pursue a career teaching agricultural education based on the factors influencing the teaching choice (FIT-choice) model. However, little research investigated the topic using a mixed-methods approach and different theoretical lenses, which could provide new perspectives on individuals’ motivation to teach. To address the knowledge gap, we investigated [State] preservice teacher recruitment program participants’ motivation to teach agricultural education using a mixed-methods approach from the self-determination theory and the theory of planned behavior theoretical lens. We found that individuals’ intention to become agriculture teachers was statistically significantly explained by three predictors: attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control regarding a career teaching agriculture. When choosing a career teaching agriculture, the score for more self-determined motivation was substantially higher than that for less self-determined motivation. Furthermore, inspiring ag teachers, positive experiences with SBAE programs, passion for teaching and agriculture, and paying it forward to students were the main factors that motivated them to teach agricultural education. Based on the theoretical frameworks and the results, the model for understanding factors that influence individuals to pursue a career teaching agricultural education was proposed to help our understanding of the multidimensional nature of individuals’ motivation to teach agriculture.