Development and Testing of a Brief Motivation-Based Teacher Recruitment Intervention

Teacher shortages present a persistent challenge across many education systems, highlighting the need for a range of recruitment approaches that can inform and engage prospective applicants at scale. This study reports the development and evaluation of TeachHook, a brief, interactive, motivation-based digital intervention designed to support early-stage exploration of teaching as a career. Drawing on expectancy–value and FIT-Choice theories, we compared two versions of the intervention: a linear version and a branching version intended to tailor content to users’ motivational profiles. Results from an experimental study with UK undergraduates (N = 363) showed a significant increase in interest in teaching following the intervention (β = .41, p < .001), with both intervention conditions associated with higher post-test motivation related perceptions of teaching than the neutral control condition (ps < .001). Although the branching version did not consistently outperform the linear version, descriptive patterns suggested modestly stronger effects for multiple motivation outcomes. Overall, the findings indicate that brief, authentic, and interactive interventions can prompt attitude changes, with motivational tailoring offering potential for added value at this stage of career decision-making. The study informs the design of theory-informed teacher recruitment interventions and provides a pathway for future research and implementation.