Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the predictive power of fondness for children on teaching motivation of teacher candidates who take pedagogical formation courses or attend faculty of education. The study was conducted with 206 students who attended the faculty of education at a public university in the Mediterranean region and 207 students attending the formation program of the same faculty. Data were collected with “Fondness for Children Scale” and “Teaching Motivation Scale”. As a result of the study, it was found that type of program enrolled and fondness for children significantly predicted intrinsic teaching motivation while type of program enrolled significantly predicted ex̄trinsic teaching motivation. It was concluded that levels fondness for children and the intrinsic and ex̄trinsic motivation of teacher candidates who attended the formation program at the faculty of education were significantly higher than those of teacher candidates who attended the faculty of education.