Abstract:

Research context:
There is an increasing focus on research of teacher identity worldwide. Teacher identity is understood as a dynamic and complex construct which consists of the perception of one's role as a teacher, one's teaching competencies (self-efficacy), beliefs about the nature of teaching. A review of scientific research indicates that the motives for choosing to teach influence teachers' behaviour and actions in the classroom, their commitment to the profession, and are associated with the construction of teacher identity. It is recognized that teachers' professional practice worldwide is influenced by their motivation to become teachers: the more internalised the motivation to teach, the more it becomes part of the teacher's identity.

The research question:
What are the early features of the teacher identity of students who have chosen to become teachers?
The aim of the research is to analyse the early features of teacher identity based on students’ motivation to choose the teaching. The article examines motivation as one of the dimensions and factors of a teacher's identity.

Research methods:
A survey method was chosen for the empirical study. The questionnaire included a combination of closed and open-ended questions. This article presents the results of a content analysis of students' responses to open-ended questions about their motives for studying in teacher education programs.

The survey sample:
The research involved 146 undergraduate students in teacher training programmes from a university in Lithuania.

Research results:
According to various authors, the motivation to become a teacher is an important factor and component of teacher identity. This allowed the early features of teacher’s identity to be revealed through content analysis of students’ responses about their motives for choosing to teach.
The students who participated in the study chose teacher education studies based mainly on internal motives: predisposition to teach and share knowledge; perceived teaching abilities; the joy of communicating with children; attractiveness of the teaching profession; aspiration to acquire a teacher's qualification / competences; the value of pedagogical knowledge; interest in teaching a subject.
The construction of a teacher's identity begins before studies, takes place during studies and continues throughout the teacher's career or continuing studies. Professional identity development takes place in studies; the student makes sense of his identity as a teacher, which will later be confirmed or not by their professional pedagogical activities. The research reveals the early features of the teacher's identity: prior confidence of self-efficacy; competent teacher; subject oriented teacher (Subject teaching identity); child-oriented teacher; identity of personality educator; teacher as structural change / innovation promoter.

Keywords:

Early teacher identity, motivation to teach, teacher training.