ABSTRACT
Throughout their careers, teachers continue to be learners of the craft of teaching. Like their students, motivation is a critical component of the learning process for teachers. We argue that inservice teachers’ motivation is influenced by their temporal context. To understand this motivational construct, we turn to future time perspective (FTP), which has been defined as “the degree to which and the way in which the chronological future is integrated into the present life-space of an individual through motivational goal setting processes” (Husman & Lens, 1999, p. 114). Students who lack such a connection to the future sometimes are merely “doing school” or going through the motions of learning with the least amount of effort necessary (Moyer & Husman, 2006). Teachers without a strong connection to their teaching futures can also engage in the same type of superficial professional learning. In this chapter, we examine dispositional and situational factors that promote the development of a broader and extended FTP, one that enables teachers to connect professional learning experiences in the present to increased teaching efficacy in the future.
