My motivation for teaching stems from...

[tomal]

Hi all.

DD is about to submit her application for PGCE. Can someone tell me if "My motivation for teaching stems from..." is correct? It's the "stems" I'm not sure about.

It's correct, though you might choose to use another word like "arises from" or "originates in", or even just "started when". Really depends whether you think gardening metaphors will help with the application...

Bear in mind that every character counts on the PGCE personal statement. Stems from has the advantage of not using up too many.

how about 'is'? or 'my motivations are'?

Especially if that is what she really means (if she really is talking about where the motivation originates, then fair enough, but people often muddle these).

Thank you all. She has decided to leave it as "stems" and has submitted her application today.

I had that exact line on my application form, years ago! Got in.