Concepts related to Icelandic student teachers' extra-role behavior

Abstract

A student teacher often experiences several demanding situations during their internships and studies. In such situations, extra-role behaviour exhibited by fellow student teachers may be an important factor in helping them overcome those challenges. Extra-role behaviours are certain behaviours of students that are not part of their formal educational requirements: for instance, helping and supporting fellow student teachers. This study explores concepts related to Icelandic student teachers’ extra-role behaviour. A questionnaire was distributed to 189 student teachers in two selected teacher education programmes. Structural equation modelling showed that altruistic motivation was the factor most strongly related to extra-role behaviour. Extrinsic motivation was also related to extra-role behaviour, but intrinsic motivation, surprisingly, was not. However, intrinsic motivation was related to instructional self-efficacy. Furthermore, instructional self-efficacy was not related to extra-role behaviour. Experiences of discipline challenges in internship situations were negatively related to self-efficacy but not related to extra-role behaviour. The implications of these findings are discussed.