Pre-service teachers' commitment to teaching: Cases of complex paths from Finland and Austria

This study focuses on Finnish and Austrian pre-service teachers' (PST) commitment and swirling paths toward a teaching career. The longitudinal research material consists of annual interviews with 25 pre-service teachers, in which three types of orientations toward teaching were identified: 1) fully committed, 2) conflicting commitment, and 3) career change. We present these orientations through three cases from both countries, which are further analyzed using Kelchtermans's (2017) framework of teacher attrition and retention as an educational issue, encompassing four distinct dimensions. The findings show contextual and individual variation in commitment. • Longitudinal case studies of three Finnish and three Austrian pre-service teachers. • The cases are categorized into three differing commitments to teaching. • The study uses Kelchtermans's dimensions in analyzing the cases. • Commitment differs due to political, cultural, and historical contexts. • The complexity of pre-service teachers' professional development is evident.