The Relationship Among Pre-service Teachers' Public Service Motivation, Intention to Work Public Sector and Teacher Professional Identity

This study aims to investigate that pre-service teachers' levels of public service motivation have relationship with their perceptions of their professional identities as teachers and how those identities differ in terms of their intention to work in the public sector. The research was designed using the cross-sectional survey model of the quantitative research method. Pre-service teachers registered in the 2023–2024 academic year at a university in Türkiye's Central Black Sea region's faculty of education constitute the sample. We used the Personal Information Form, Public Service Motivation Scale, and Early Professional Teacher Identity Scale to collect data. 557 pre-service teachers, 418 (75%) female and 139 (25%) male, participated in the study. The findings showed that pre-service teachers had above-medium levels of public service motivation and professional identity. A significant relationship between professional identity and public service motivation, as well as the sub-dimensions of public service motivation, was found using correlation analysis. To find out if there is any predictive power for professional identity based on the public service motivation sub-dimensions and their potential influence, we used multiple linear regression analysis. The regression model tested within the research questions was significant, and the proposed model explained 25% of the total variance of teacher professional identity. Some suggestions have been made for future studies, considering the limitations encountered during the research process.