A Digital Qualitative Ethnographic Study of Preservice Teachers' Perspectives and Experiences of Teaching from To-Be Teachers

This digital ethnographic study aimed to understand how and why college students decide to be teachers while many trained teachers leave the profession every year in the United States. A purposive sampling technique enabled 30 prospective teachers in a college of education to participate in this study. The research questions that guided the study were: 1) How and why did preservice teachers choose teaching as a career? 2) How did preservice teachers' perception of the drawbacks of teaching and the opportunities to support them in becoming teachers influence their decisions? The conceptual framework to understand the phenomena came from educational change, teachers' professional development, and learning organizations. This research used qualitative digital ethnographic design to collect data. Digital ethnography uses anthropological and sociological research approaches to understand digital space as a typical 'traditional locale.' Thematic analysis followed three weeks of data gathering, and the results indicate that people decide to teach from personal convictions that stem from experiences with children in different settings. The themes were "service for children, payback to the community, other influences," and "personal commitment." The study's conclusions cover novice teachers' understanding of teaching as a career, its challenges, opportunities, and creativity.