Passion on Teaching Beliefs and Efficacy

Despite the positive impact of passion on teaching related activities and perspectives, a limited number of theoretical and empirical studies have been done on the role of passion in early childhood preservice teachers’ beliefs and their teacher efficacy. Therefore, this study was to review the theoretical framework of passion for teaching and to examine early childhood preservice teachers’ passion for teaching children and its impact on their constructivist teaching beliefs and teacher efficacy. Significance and Purposes of the Study Teaching is physically and socio-emotionally demanding and requires a high degree of dedication and motivation. Becoming an early childhood teacher involves a complex process of transformation from a teacher candidate to a fully qualified teacher that requires commitment to and passion for the teaching profession (Bruinsma & Jansen, 2010; Hamman & Romano, 2009; Ledoux, Yoder, Hanes, & McHenry, 2008; Rose & Rogers, 2012; Sinclair, Munns, & Woodward 2005; Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay, 2008). A considerable body of research has shown that passionate teachers have a positive impact on their teaching and on student learning (Day, 2009; Kim & Lane, 2013; Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay, 2008). Vallerand, Fernet, and Guay (2008) reported that passionate teachers manage to achieve a state of harmony between their teaching and their other activities. However, this passion may cause burnout among novice teachers due to the intensity involved in teaching and the imbalance that may exist between teaching and other life activities Although much attention has been paid to the role of passion in teaching, there are only a limited number of empirical studies on the role passion plays in early childhood preservice teachers’ efficacy. Thus, first, this study was to review the theoretical framework of passion for teaching to better understand the role of passion in teaching young children. Second, with 77 early childhood preservice teachers, this study examined early childhood preservice teachers’ passion for teaching children and its impact on their adaptive outcomes such as constructivist teaching beliefs and general teacher efficacy. Theoretical Framework of Passion for Teaching The conceptualization of passion has been well supported empirically in areas other than teacher education, showing two types of passion associated with different affective experiences: harmonious passion and obsessive passion (Vallerand, Fernet, & Guay, 2008; Vallerand, Blanchard, Mageau, Koestner, Ratella, Leonard, & Gagne, 2003; Vallerand, Rousseau, Grouzet, Dumais, & Grenier, 2006). According to Vallerand et al. (2003), “passion is a strong inclination or desire toward an activity (e.g., one's job) that one likes (or even loves) and finds important and in which one invests time and energy”. Based on the self-determination theory, Vallerand et al. (2003) denominated two different types of passion, harmonious passion and obsessive passion, depending on the process of internalization that relates to one’s identity. While harmonious passion emanates from an autonomous internalization rooted in an intrinsic tendency of the self, obsessive passion results from a controlled internalization of the activity into one's identity (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2003). Passion for teaching theoretically grounded on Vallerand et al.’s speculation on passion has also been found in the literature (Vallerand et al., 2003). According to this perspective, harmoniously passionate teaching can be seen as occupying a significant but not overpowering space in the teacher’s identity and as being in harmony with other aspects of the teacher’s life. This enables teachers to fully concentrate on the teaching-related-task and to focus their attention and energy on other tasks at hand without inclining to teaching. On the other hand, teachers with an obsessive passion are controlled by their teachingrelated activities. Because teaching becomes out of the teacher’s control, it can invade other parts of his or her life, resulting in less adaptive outcomes, in general. Early Childhood Preservice Teachers’ Passion In order to analyze early childhood preservice teachers’ passion for teaching and its impact on adaptive outcomes such as constructivist teaching beliefs and teacher efficacy, the following questions were examined: 1. How passionate are early childhood preservice teachers about their preparation for the teaching profession? 2. To what extent does early childhood preservice teachers’ passion, among other predictors (i.e., status in the program and educational family context), explain their teaching beliefs and sense of teacher efficacy for their future professional teaching? Despite the lack of research on the role of harmonious passion in determining preservice teachers’ outcomes such as teacher efficacy and teaching beliefs, based on theoretical research and with empirical support from other work areas, this study expected that harmonious passion can be positively associated with preservice teachers’ experience in the teacher education program in their preparation for the teaching profession and their identity as a teacher candidate, which may be associated with their teaching beliefs and their sense of teaching efficacy (adaptive outcomes). On the other hand, compared to harmonious passion, obsessive passion can be less positively associated with their experience in the aforementioned adaptive outcomes.