Predicting the academic achievement of first-year, pre-service teachers: the role of engagement, motivation, ATAR, and emotional intelligence

AbstractAustralian universities are enrolling a larger and more diverse undergraduate student population. Counter to this trend, several states have developed plans to restrict entrance into the teaching profession. This study investigates the role of engagement, motivation, Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), and emotional intelligence in the academic achievement of first-year, pre-service teachers. Eighty-three regionally enrolled pre-service teachers agreed to complete self-report questionnaires that assessed engagement with learning and emotional intelligence. The questionnaire data were supplemented with findings from a series of focus groups. Although ATAR scores were found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement, scores on the Motivation and Engagement Scale emerged as a much stronger predictor of first-year grade point average. Measures of emotional intelligence did not add to the model. The results support the need to consider pre-service teachers' motivation and engagement with learning, especially given the high stakes nature of proposed reforms to initial teacher education programmes.Keywords: emotional intelligenceengagementmotivationpre-service teacher education AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to express their thanks to the pre-service teachers who generously participated in this research. Ian Sinclair, Chelsea Kovacs, Wayne Parkins, and Justine Lomas (Swinburne University of Technology) provided invaluable assistance with data collection and preparation. Colleagues at the School of Education, CSU, provided advice on this manuscript including Brian Hemmings and Christina Davidson as well as the anonymous reviewers. MES-UC used under licence from Lifelong Achievement. SUEIT used with permission (Swinburne University of Technology).Additional informationNotes on contributorsGerald WurfGerald Wurf is Lecturer and Course Director at Charles Sturt University. His research focuses on school bullying, multicultural classrooms, inclusive education, academic achievement, and student engagement.Lindy Croft-PigginDr Lindy Croft-Piggin is a teacher educator at Charles Sturt University. Her research interests are arts education, rural youth culture, literacy, and teacher education.