Enriching Teacher Motivation by Improving Teacher Education: Inclusive and Reflective Training

Introduction

Teachers’ experience in their first years of teaching has an impact on their decision to remain in the profession. Unfortunately, many novice teachers experience a “reality shock” when confronting the reality of the classroom after the teacher training received (Veenman, 1984, p. 143; Weinstein, 1988). This may be caused by a variety of reasons, but it is well-known that from the first days on the job, “teachers must face the same challenges as their more experienced colleagues” (Farrell, 2012, p. 436). Challenges include, but are not limited to, the lack of preparation and competences and the resulting problems (Hong, 2010), an overload of lesson planning and delivery, and classroom management of overcrowded classes with mixed-ability and diverse young learners without much supervision or guidance.

Teachers’ idealized perception of the profession is often diminished when they begin teaching in their own classroom (Hong, 2010). Difficulties during this period of adaptation may lead to teachers leaving the profession early in their careers before discovering the joys of teaching young learners (Farrell, 2012; Peacock, 2009). Teachers frequently struggle to apply the theory learnt in pre-service TE to their teaching (Richards, 2008) because “there is somewhat of a disconnect between the content of teacher education and the reality” of what teachers experience in the classroom (Farrell, 2016, p. 105). Deficient training may trigger feelings of incompetence in teachers of young learners, which may lead to reconsidering their choice of teaching the specific age group; consequently, improving teachers’ competences should be of primordial importance.

TE should guarantee that teachers of young learners are prepared for the real classroom in which they find diverse students and potential challenges which they will need to analyze as reflective teachers. In the classrooms, teachers should engage in reflection about their teaching and support all their students inclusively, but these practices require skills which must be taught and therefore, must be included in pre-service TE. Training in these two areas, i.e. inclusive and reflective practices, is necessary and has been found to be vital for pre-service and in-service teachers (Agudo, 2017; Aparicio & Arévalo, 2014; Beacham & Rouse, 2012; Chong & Cheah, 2009; Mehlmauer-Larcher, 2012; Nijakowska, 2014). Guaranteeing an inclusive environment in the classroom is fundamental and reflective teachers who evaluate and improve their own practices will benefit both teachers and learners.

It is difficult to establish the specific training which is needed for all language teachers to be successful (Faez, 2011). However, teachers will be more prepared for the real classroom if pre-service TE addresses the possible classroom challenges they will face when teaching young learners. Teachers’ professional experiences in their first years could be improved by anticipating the potential difficulties they may find in the classrooms in the 21^st century, and by guiding teachers to develop realistic expectations about their future classes. More importantly, identifying the sources of dissatisfaction and demotivation among in-service teachers is fundamental to developing teacher training programs. These could provide better preparation, starting from the dilemmas teachers face in their daily teaching experiences. Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) literature has overlooked the field of teacher motivation (Lamb & Wyatt, 2019). However, teacher educators and policy makers should consider the sources of demotivation of in-service teachers and shape TE based on these challenges to favor student teachers who are the future of the profession.

This chapter will examine some demotivating factors of secondary school EFL teachers in the context of Spain, and will discuss how these demotivators could be tackled by enhancing teacher training programs and amplifying their offer. This investigation is part of a larger qualitative research project which analyzed EFL teacher motivation and demotivation in secondary state schools in Spain (Gadella Kamstra, 2020). The present study will discuss some of the findings from this investigation and will shed light on the link between teacher motivation and TE by suggesting recommendations to reconcile teacher training and in-service teachers’ needs. Implications will be discussed to resolve teacher attrition and address teachers’ challenges in the classroom, which often affect students and the learning process indirectly.