Investigation of Pre-Service Teachers’ Depression Levels, Teaching Motivations and Their Attitudes towards Profession

The research aims to examine the pre-service teachers’ depression levels, teaching motivation and attitudes towards the teaching profession. The research was carried out according to the survey model. The sample of the study was carried out with of 235 pre-service teachers in Education Faculties in Turkey. In the research, Burns Depression Scale, Teaching Motivation Scale, and Attitude Scale towards Teaching Profession were used as the measurements. In addition, a personal information form prepared by the researchers was used to collect some demographic information of pre-service teachers participating in the research. When the findings of the study were examined, it was determined that the pre-service teacher did not show a significant difference in their depression levels, teaching motivations, and attitudes towards the teaching profession according to their gender, place of residence, and socio-economic level. In addition, while there was no significant relationship between depression level and teaching motivation and attitude towards the teaching profession, a positive correlation was found between teaching motivation and the attitude towards the teaching profession. The results show that it is important for pre-service teachers to have a high level of attitude towards the teaching profession to increase their teaching motivation.