Teachers' optimism and self-regulation as predictors of readiness for professional development

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between teachers’ optimism/pessimism, primary and secondary control, and readiness for professional development in primary and secondary schools in Serbia. A total of 284 teachers participated in the study (82% female, Mage=42.58, SDage=9.40), with an average of 17 years of teaching experience, and filled out the Teachers’ Readiness for Profes- sional Development Scale (RPD-Ts), the Optimism/Pessimism Scale (O/P), and the Primary and Secondary Control Scales (PSC). Optimism and Pessimism represent significant predictors of Primary (F(2,277) = 36.12, p<.01) and Secondary control (F(2,277) = 23.76, p<.01), with Optimism (β = .388) and Pessimism (β = -.119) as individual predictors of Primary control, and Pessimism (β = .335) as an individual predictor of Secondary control. Results of multiple regression analyses show that Primary and Secondary control, Optimism and Pessimism represent significant predictors of four intrinsically oriented subscales of teacher’s readiness to develop professionally, and one subscale of extrinsically oriented motivation. Primary control and Optimism stand out as the strongest individual predictors of intrinsically motivated readiness to develop professionally, while Secondary control and Pessimism have the strongest predictive effect on extrinsic motivation for professional development.