On Becoming Technology and Livelihood Education Teachers

Becoming a teacher begins with an intention. Anchored on the theory of planned behavior, this study describes the intention of pre-service teachers to become teachers of Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) after their studies. Three antecedents of intention were explored such as attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Participants were selected purposively based on the presence of intention to perform the behavior in question. Data collection was done through interview. The recorded interviews were transcribed, coded and interpreted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings of this study revealed that the intention to become teachers of TLE is based on three beliefs. The favorable attitude is based on the belief that practical knowledge and skills, including life skills, will be developed once become a teacher in TLE. The favorable subjective norm is based on the belief that family, teachers and friends play an important role in decision-making of becoming a TLE teacher. Moreover. The perceived behavioral control is based on the belief that competent teachers, instructional materials, trainings and seminars on trade skills facilitate the performance of becoming a TLE teacher. In light of these findings, the researcher recommended: (1) likely outcomes or benefits of becoming a TLE teacher, within and outside the teaching career, must be emphasized and reiterated to pre-service teachers; (2) community must be informed about the what and why of choosing teaching as a career specifically in the field of TLE; (3) develop programs to capacitate TLE professors/ instructors to equip them with relevant methodology and technology competencies, update learning resources according to industry requirements, and establish industry linkages.