Professional motives in primary school teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the professional motives of primary school teachers and their relation to the teaching/learning process. This research relies on the historic. cultural paradigm and the activity theory, especially the categories of motives proposed by A. Leontiev and N. Talizina. The study was based on semi.structured interviews with a teacher and six students of the 6th grade of a private urban primary school. It also included analysis of their written narratives and a video recording of a class session. Our findings suggest a relationship between the teacher’s motives and the students’ learning process.