This study examined the motivation to teach and the commitment to teaching among prospective student teachers from mainland China and their Hong Kong counterparts.
The findings suggest that the individuals’ commitment to teaching was mediated by immediate contextual factors, closely related to their imagined teaching identity.
These factors were also shaped by their socio-economic backgrounds, and constructed by social discourses on teachers and the teaching profession.
The authors conclude that this research sheds lights on how to sustain non-local prospective student teachers’ motivation to teach and commitment to teaching.
This study also highlights how to ensure their full participation in teaching practices after graduation, and how to retain young qualified teachers in the teaching profession, in educational settings elsewhere.