The Role Of Occupational Concerns On The Reality Shock Expectation

Abstract

Reality shock is experienced mostly by novice teachers in transitioning to profession when they are confronted with a gap between what they learned during their education and the reality awaiting them within the early years of their career. Similarly, senior students in teaching programs may have occupational concerns proceeding from not having encountered the profession itself yet. Here, we elaborate on the relationship between reality shock expectation and occupational concerns of pre-service teachers. A total of 464 Turkish pre-service teachers participated. We discovered experiencing reality shock expectation prior to professional life to be significantly predicted by appointment, students/communication, and social/economic concerns. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between study major and reality shock expectation of the participants. Overall, we discuss the probable factors triggering reality shock expectation and occupational concerns, and the implications for future research in accordance with similar literature.