Close to the Heart or Close to the Home? Motivational Factors Influencing EFL Teaching as a Career Choice among Female Arab-Israeli Students

The purpose of this study is to examine Israeli-Arab pre-service teachers’ motivations for choosing English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching as their future profession. Data were gathered using the adapted Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) scale. Study participants (a cohort of N = 100) responded to a questionnaire of 38 motivational factors that had influenced them to choose English teaching as a future profession when entering education colleges. In addition, 20 of the participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Results revealed that the reasons Arab students become English teachers are based on a combination of intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic motivations. As all study participants were women, our results provide an initial indication of what draws Arab-Israeli women to the profession.


Literature Review
Education is one of the most important pillars of a country's future and the building block of a brighter generation. While each country's individual culture will exert a certain degree of influence, teachers and educators around the world tend to enjoy a high socio-economic status (Manuel & Hughes, 2006;Jeong, 2016). With this status comes significant job pressure, which may scare potential teachers from realizing their dream of pursuing a teaching degree. It also makes it difficult for policymakers to make teaching attractive to future candidates (Ramsay, 2000). As a result, numerous studies across the world have researched the motivations for becoming a teacher among both novice and pre-service teachers. Reports from the United States, the UK, Australia, and other European countries point to the difficulty of finding qualified teachers while they express concerns about teacher shortages (Liu et al., 2000;OECD, 2004;Preston, 2000).
When considering teacher training programs, it is crucial to identify the motivation for teaching since it can provide a valuable tool to guide newcomers considering teaching as a career choice. Many scholars have proposed different definitions for motivation. Among them, Schunk and others (2012) define it as "the process by which goal oriented activities are incorporated and sustained". Linder (1998) defines it as "the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal goals". Richardson and Watt (2007) came up with the framework of FIT-Choice, defining it as "a scale that determines the strength of influence for a range of motivations from individuals choosing teaching as a career". They based their model on the expectancy-value framework, which is the most comprehensive motivational model for career choice (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Watt and Richardson's study included 1,653 pre-service teachers from both graduate and undergraduate teaching programs across three different universities in Australia. They analyzed participants' demographic, career realization, occupational status on the scale 1-5 (5 being the highest), motivation for choosing teaching (extrinsic, intrinsic, and altruistic values), propositions about the profession, and finally career choice satisfaction.
A number of researchers have adapted the FIT-Choice scale since then, but only with minor modifications or adaptions to suit their intended audience. Jeong (2016) utilized the original model and adapted it for Korean EFL pre-service teachers. Her model was further improved by making the surveys network-based and online, for example via Google surveys. Manuel and Hughes (2006) also developed their study from this model, with the addition of open-ended questions.
These studies assigned motivations for choosing teaching as a career into three main categories: intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic. Intrinsically motivated people do actions for inner satisfaction without looking at the consequences and the outcomes. In other words, people with intrinsic motivations become teachers for reasons that are related to the job itself, such as enjoyment of teaching, enjoyment of being with children/young people, using their expert knowledge, and taking on the challenge of teaching a "difficult" subject (Joeng, 2016). On the other hand, being extrinsically motivated indicates that the individual is affected by social/socio-cultural factors. Individuals with extrinsic motivations put more emphasis on outcomes that are not related to teaching itself, for example vacations, income, or social status. They are usually influenced by social pressures from society, their families, former teachers, or even friends. These pressures also encompass personal factors, such as having a convenient schedule for family life and having children, as well as job benefits (Pop & Turner, 2009;Joeng, 2016). As its name indicates, the category labeled altruistic motivations comprises people who go into teaching because they want to help others, in this case students or society. People in this category believe they can make a change in the education system for the good of society. Alongside these three main categories, all studies incorporated other motivational factors, such as last-resort career, demographics, and other cultural conflicts.
Across all studies, intrinsic values dominated the motivations for teaching; these were followed by altruistic values, with teaching as a "fallback" career in last place. Pre-service teachers seemed less concerned about extrinsic values such as salary and status. Accounting for 65%-75% of respondents, female teaching candidates far outnumbered male participants in the surveys, especially among early years and primary teachers. While most participants viewed teaching as a career with high demands and low returns, they showed a surprisingly high satisfaction rate with their choice of career (Richardson & Watt, 2007). words, the motivational factors for choosing teaching as a future career vary according to the socio-cultural and socio-economic context of a specific society.
To our knowledge, little research on this issue has been conducted in the Israeli context, particularly in relation to the motivations of teachers from the Arab minority. Arabs long ruled the territory of Israel (Palestine), but soon after 1948, the Zionist movement began its struggle to claim the promised land, with the result that the Arab population has been reduced to a mere 20% of the population in contemporary times (Lavie et al., 2018).
According to Lavie and others (2018), "the population of the Arab minority is an 'indigenous' population that views itself as subject to the hegemony of a majority that, for the most part, is not indigenous". Arabs in Israel are challenged to deal with the fact that they are a minority in the land of their forefathers, but under the jurisdiction of Jewish immigrants. Over the years, relations between Arabs and Jews have grown understandably tense, with the Arab minority living in pure isolation.
After many years of turmoil, where one community annually celebrated a day of independence while the other was mourning the Nakba, the nation came to the realization that the notable cleavage between Arabs and Jews had to gradually disappear (Amara & Mar'i, 2002). The Arab minority began to assimilate into Israeli culture, and their boundaries were extended. For the first time, after years of being bound to the role of housewives and in rare cases teachers, Arab women in Israel were finally given the freedom to work outside the home and pursue careers of their choosing.
Teacher attitudes in the Arab education system are the result of various socio-cultural factors alluded to above. Teachers try to instill interpersonal contact among their students, as well as fostering a sense of belonging and security in the school. In practice, however, they tend to work in restrictive, part-time employment conditions without the therapeutic or professional staff to assist them in addressing the diverse needs of students. Additionally, the centralized administration adopted by principals at many Arab schools is based on an authoritative and forceful management style that contradicts modern conceptions of moral and collaborative leadership. It is a distant leadership style influenced by cultural characteristics that tend to negate emotions and exclude teachers from school decision-making processes.
Further, the unilateral links between the school and parents, the conflicts between stakeholders in the Arab education system, and the distrust of teachers and Arab society in the Israeli education system impair many teachers' sense of belonging. In summary, Israeli-Arab teacher motivations and attitudes toward students are characterized by an educational landscape that lacks individual autonomy.

Research Participants
Participants in this study were 100 Arab-Israeli students majoring in EFL education at an Islamic college located in Israel with a population of 95% female Muslim Arab students. They came from all 4-year groups, ranging from first year to fourth year. All EFL students received an email inviting them to take part in the study. Out of a total of 148 students invited, 100 agreed to participate.

Research Methods and Tools
The current study applied a mixed-method design in which quantitative and qualitative techniques were prioritized equally (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The quantitative data were collected using an online survey based on the FIT-Choice scale, adapted from Richardson and Watt (2006;2007). To maximize participation, the survey was offered in both online and pen and paper format. The FIT questionnaire was administered in order to examine students' motivations for choosing English language teaching as their future profession. The questionnaire includes 38 items on a Likert-type scale, going from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely) how important each given item was in the students' career decision. The items are grouped into five lower-order factors and two higher-order factors representing a wide range of career choice motivations. The five lower-order factors captured by this scale are as follows: ability; intrinsic career value; fallback career; prior teaching and learning experiences; and social influences. The two higher-order factors captured by this scale are personal utility value and social utility value. The personal utility value factor is comprised of three lower-order factors: job security; time for family; and job transferability. The social utility value factor is comprised of an additional four lower-order factors: to shape the future of children/adolescents; to enhance social equity; to make a social contribution; and to work with children/adolescents.
The qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Twenty freshman and sophmores were interviewed. The interviews were conducted face to face and fully transcribed. Each interview took about 45 minutes and was audiotaped and accompanied by a research diary.

FIT-Choice Responses
High reliability of the FIT-Choice scale was observed in the present study, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.91 for the overall scale and scores ranging from 0.50 to 0.95 for the 12 factors utilized. Table 1 presents the FIT-Choice subscale alphas, number of items, and sample items. In order to answer our second research question, which targeted the more dominant factors, a quantitative analysis was conducted. Results revealed that Arab EFL college students generally rated ability, job security, and time for family as highest in their reasons for choosing teaching, followed closely by the ability to shape future of children/adolescents and to make a social contribution. Of all 12 factors, EFL college Arab students rated fallback career and job transferability as the least influential in their decision to choose teaching.  Ability. The ability subscale, which contains the components of an intrinsic motivation, assesses respondents' self-appraisal of their own teaching skills (McLean et al., 2019). It consists of three items. The subscale mean was (M = 5.42, SD = 1.47). Participants scored lowest on the item "Teaching is a career suited to my abilities" (M = 5.25, SD = 1.74) and highest for the item "I have the qualities of a good teacher" (M = 5.58, SD = 1.58). A closer look at the item-specific means suggests that there is not a great deal of variance in the means of the items, as noted in Table 3. Intrinsic Career Value. The intrinsic career value subscale assesses the extent to which the individual has a genuine, intrinsic interest in and desire to pursue teaching (McLean et al., 2019). It consists of three items. The subscale mean was (M = 4.79, SD = 1.91). Participants scored lowest on "I've always wanted to be a teacher" (M = 4.28, SD = 2.20) and highest for "I like teaching" (M = 5.15, SD = 2.06). A closer look at the item-specific means suggests that there is a moderate deal of variance in the means of the items (Table 4).  Personal Utility Value. The personal utility value subscale assesses the individual's perceptions of the practical aspects of teaching as convenient to their desired lifestyle (McLean et al., 2019). It is comprised of three lower-order factors: job security (3 items); time for family (5 items); and job transferability (3 items). The overall mean for this subscale was (M = 5.04, SD = 0.97). Participants scored lowest on job transferability (M = 3.97, SD = 1.43), especially on the item "A teaching job will allow me to choose where I wish to live" (M = 3.15, SD = 2.14); and highest for "School holidays will fit in with family commitments" (M = 5.88, SD = 1.51). A closer look at the item-specific means suggests that there is a great deal of variance in the means of the items (Table 6). A teaching job will allow me to choose where I wish to live 3.15 2.14 Social Utility Value. The social utility value subscale assesses the extent to which the respondent values making a positive contribution to society through working with children (McLean et al., 2019). It is comprised of four lower-order factors: to shape future of children/adolescents (3 items); to enhance social equity (3 items); to make a social contribution (3 items); and to work with children/adolescents (3 items). The overall mean for this subscale was (M = 4.76, SD = 1.74). Participants scored lowest on work with children/adolescents (M = 4.43, SD = 2.15), enhancing social equity (M = 4.53, SD = 1.71), and especially assist the socially disadvantaged" (M = 4.34, SD = 1.88). Scores for the item "Teaching allows me to provide a service to society" were highest (M = 5.35, SD = 1.87). A closer look at the item-specific means suggests that there is a great deal of variance in the means of the items (Table 7). Prior Teaching and Learning Experiences. The prior teaching and learning experiences subscale assesses the extent to which students were inspired by previous teachers or by their own experiences teaching students (McLean et al., 2019). It consists of three items. The subscale mean was (M = 4.79, SD = 1.82). Participants scored all items similarly (Table 8). Social Influences. The social influences subscale assesses the extent to which others (family and/or friends) encouraged or expected them to become a teacher (McLean et al., 2019). It consists of three items. The subscale mean was (M = 4.91, SD = 1.50). Participants scored lowest on "My friends think I should become a teacher" (M = 4.04, SD = 2.25); and highest for "My family thinks I should become a teacher" (M = 5.79, SD = 1.67). A closer look at the item-specific means suggests that there is a great deal of variance in the means of the items (Table 9). Across the 38 questionnaire items (38x100 = 3800 answers), respondents rated the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations higher than the altruistic reasons. The items with the highest score turned out to be intrinsic, with "I am interested in teaching [English]", "I have always wanted to be a [n English] teacher", and "I like teaching [English]" receiving ratings of 6 or 7 on the Likert scale. In all, 88% of the pre-service teachers selected intrinsic motivations. Among the 14 items indicated as extrinsic, participants pointed to 82% of the answers as extrinsic, specifically the items "Part-time teaching could allow more family time", "Teaching hours will fit with the responsibilities of having a family", and "School holidays will fit in with family commitments". Participants also attributed the item "I was not accepted into my first-choice career") with a rating of 5-7 on the Likert scale. "I chose teaching as a last-resort career" received a relatively high rating (5-6) on the Likert scale.
Items belonging to the altruistic category were given lower ratings (1-4 on the Likert scale). For example, "Teaching enables me to 'give back' to society" was given a 3 by 85% of the participants.

Semi-Structured Interviews
Aside from the questionnaire, the following questions were asked in the qualitative interviews: Why did you choose to study English?
Why did you choose to study at Al-Qasemi Academy?
Why do you want to be a teacher?
The following themes appeared in the coding of the semi-structured interviews: Studying at a college that is close to home: One of the most prominent themes, mentioned in 15 out of 20 interviews, is the fact that the college they chose is close to their homes. All 20 interviewees said they think they will eventually get a job close to their homes. Further, all respondents believe that there is a shortage of English teachers in Arab society (although this view is based on popular belief rather than scientific evidence). One of the interviewees named Maram (all names mentioned are pseudonym) said: "Al-Qasemi is the closest college to my home. It would be more convenient for my family life in the future to study in a place that is close to my house." Muna, an engaged student, expressed a similar sentiment when she said: "I'm getting married next year. I suppose that studying in a place close to my home would be most convenient for my family life, especially after getting married." Ahlam alluded to religious reasons to explain her choice of college: "I come from a conservative religious family. I am also a conservative girl. I cannot study in a faraway place because I have to be accompanied by mahram. This is a key reason for coming to study at Al-Qasemi college because it is close to my house." Mahram is a well-known term in the Islamic context, indicating a close member of a woman's family-usually a husband, father, grandfather, brother, or uncle-who may serve as a legal escort or chaperon for journeys longer than a day and a night. Alham's explanation was also repeated in Suha's and Ibtihal's answers.
English is the most prestigious job among all teaching professions: For a majority of students (14 out of 20), the most common reason for choosing to teach English specifically was that "English teaching is the most prestigious among all teaching professions". One student, Ahmad, observed, "If I'm to become a teacher anyway, then I want to be an English teacher; it is the best of the worst!" (meaning the best among all teaching professions, but the worst because teaching is the worst job).
I think/My family thinks that teaching is the best job for a woman in the future: All respondents (100%) reported that they chose to be English teachers because it is the best profession for a woman who is going to be a mother in the future.
I love the English language: Apparent in both the questionnaire and the semi-structured interviews are the undergraduates' strong attachment to English as a subject. All respondents agreed that they loved the English language and enjoyed speaking English. They indicated that this passion for the language was an important factor in their decision to become English teachers.

Discussion
This study investigated the motivational factors behind Israeli-Arab female undergraduates' decision to train as English teachers. The research instrument was based on the FIT-Choice model. Data was collected through a questionnaire made available online and in hardcopy. Our respondents' future career choice was primarily driven by intrinsic motivational factors, underpinned by a strong interest in teaching and a love of the English language.
Extrinsic factors, such as compatibility with motherhood and the relatively comfortable lifestyle that comes with being an EFL teacher, were also important. Altruistic motivations, however, were given the lowest ratings on the Likert scale. The questionnaire's findings were further supported by the themes that emerged in the semi-structured interviews.
Some of our findings appear to challenge prior work suggesting that teachers in more developed countries are attracted to altruistic motivations. However, the situation in Israel-inarguably a highly developed country-is not simple, and this complexity is reflected in our results. On the one hand, our participants were driven by intrinsic motivations, in line with other highly developed countries. On the other hand, few indicated altruistic motivations. Most respondents pointed to extrinsic motivations, such as teaching being a last-resort choice, or a "default career". Regional perceptions of teaching could provide a potential explanation for these motivational differences. In developed countries where teachers are driven by altruistic motivations, teaching tends to be perceived as a calling (e.g., Jeong, 2016), whereas in Israel, the position of teaching and teachers is considered to be low (Wongruvitch, 2018). Arabs living in Israel have the complex identity of living in a developed country, but they still have intrinsic motivations. This is due to the fact they are a relatively under-developed community, as they have a relatively low economic level and standard of living, within the borders of a developed country. On the other hand, being a teacher in a country like Israel is still regarded as a less prestigious job, which explains why it is usually chosen as a last resort choice.

Conclusions and Recommendations
Our study, and any future research developed from it, could be used to inform college teacher training programs in the Arab sector in Israel, helping course developers adapt their content to deliver quality and relevant experiences for future teachers. On the basis of our findings, it is possible to make some recommendations that could be implemented by policy makers in Israel in order to promote teaching as a calling. For example, teachers should receive higher salaries, and students with high grades in entrance exams should be accepted to education colleges. The fact that Arab-Israeli pre-service teachers ranked intrinsic factors as their chief motivation can be interpreted as positive evidence, since intrinsic motives have been linked to dedication to the profession (Jeong, 2016). That said, it could be argued that altruism also has an important role to play in teacher dedication. For this reason, the fact that altruistic motivations scored lowest in the ranking could reflect negatively on those who enter EFL teaching in the Arab sector in Israel. If altruistic motivations were to be strengthened, teachers' dedication to their jobs would potentially increase. This study has laid the foundations for future research into the motivations of teachers within the Arab education sector in Israel.