Abstract
The study intends to reveal the main valences of the motivation involved in choosing the didactic career for elementary and pre-school education. The investigation has been carried out during the interview organised for the selection of students in the “Pedagogy of elementary and pre-school education” university degree specialisation, for the 2008 – 2009 academic year. The main aspects pursued were those regarding the defining of the dominant types of motivation assumed by the candidates as well as the identification of some possible significant differences among them, in relation to the motivation for choosing their career as it is related to their initial professional training. The aim of the study consisted in obtaining some important motivational bench-marks from the first series of students, at the beginning of this educational program, with a view to increase the efficiency of didactic and assessment strategies.
Key words: extrinsic motivation, motivation, intrinsic motivation