Motivation Beliefs of Secondary School Teachers in Canada and Singapore: A mixed Methods Study

Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 24, Issue 7, October 2008, P. 1919-1934

A mixed methods approach was used to investigate secondary teachers’ motivation beliefs in Canada and Singapore.
The results from Study 1 revealed that socio-economic status (SES) was the strongest predictor of school climate in Canada. Furthermore, collective efficacy mediated the effect of SES on school climate in Singapore, but not in Canada.
In Study 2, interviews were conducted with 10 teachers in Canada and 14 teachers in Singapore. Teachers in both settings discussed students’ social and behavior problems, but the range of the social problems was greater in Canada than in Singapore. Furthermore, the social problems had a stronger impact on teachers’ motivation beliefs.