First-Year and Graduate Teacher Training Students’ Views on the Teaching Career

In our study, we present a research that examined the correlation between first-year and graduate teacher training students’ career image, teaching intention and pedagogical potential. Our goal was to assess the changes that occurred over the three years, from the beginning of the studies to the graduation, in the attitudes and intentions of engineering students, who, at the beginning of their higher education enrolled in teacher training in addition to their undergraduate studies. We examined whether, according to their judgment, there are any changes in their views regarding the teaching career and in the evaluation of their own teaching skills. The survey was conducted in two academic years: in the 2020/2021 academic year first-year students, while in the 2022/2023 academic year graduate students participated in the survey. The comparison was made on a sample of students from the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania Teacher Training Institute. The components of the self-edited questionnaire are: socio-demographic questions, characteristics of the teaching career, qualities of an effective teacher, assessment of the importance of teaching, the teacher's self-image. Students filled out the questionnaire on Google Forms.