Attitudes of Pre-service Teachers towards Teaching Profession

This study examined pre-service mathematics teachers' attitudes towards teaching profession and explored the impact of gender and grade level on their attitudes. Participants consisted of 162 pre-service teachers, enrolled in elementary mathematics education program at a middle sized public university located in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. Data were collected during the fall semester of 2012-2013 academic years, from four different grade levels. As the data collection instrument 'Attitude Scale towards the Profession of Teaching', was administered to the participants. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to explore the impact of gender and grade level on attitude scores. In general, the results revealed that pre-service teachers had positive and high attitudes towards teaching profession. However, their attitudes differed statistically significant with respect to gender and grade level. In particular, female pre- service teachers had higher attitudes than male pre-service teachers. Besides, pre-service teachers' attitudes decreased statistically significant as they moved from beginner to senior level.