"Thought the holidays and workload would be good...": Motivations of Australian ITE students in a time of crisis

William Baker
University of Tasmania, Australia
Dawn Joseph
Deakin University, Australia
Brad Merrick
The University of Melbourne, Australia

Media scrutiny of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia has been intense in recent years, with particular attention being drawn to ITE graduate preparedness to teach. Simultaneously there is a worldwide shortage of graduate teachers to fill gaping holes in teacher workforces, and a decline in community perceptions of the role teachers play in our society. In such a crisis the motivations of those entering the profession become critical. In this article motivations of ITE students enrolled in arts education subjects are explored between September and December 2023 (N=120). Findings suggest that whilst the motivations of students have not shifted away from altruistic and intrinsic reasons, a greater focus on the values that ITE students bring to their studies is increasingly important.
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Authors: Dr William ('Bill') Baker is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania, School of Education. He has over thirty years of experience in music education and is a highly awarded educator. His research interests include youth music participation and wellbeing, and scholarship of teaching and learning in arts education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0859-4996 Email: bill.baker@utas.edu.au Dr Dawn Joseph is a Professor within the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. She is a member of the editorial boards of international and national refereed journals. Her research and publications focus on teacher education, music education, community music, African music, multiculturalism, cultural diversity, and ageing and well-being in the arts. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6320-900X Email: dawn.joseph@deakin.edu.au Dr Brad Merrick is a Senior Lecturer (Music and the Arts Education) in the Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia. A past Chair of the International Society for Music Education (MISTEC) commission, he currently serves on the ISME Executive Board and as the President of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Research in Music Education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0409-4994 Email: brad.merrick@unimelb.edu.au Please cite as: Baker, W., Joseph, D. & Merrick, B. (2025). "Thought the holidays and workload would be good...": Motivations of Australian ITE students in a time of crisis. Issues in Educational Research, 35(1), 82-100. http://www.iier.org.au/iier35/baker.pdf