Teachers' and Teacher Education Students' Sense of Efficacy: Quantitative and Qualitative Comparisons.

Abstract

Teacher efficacy has emerged as an important variable in educational research related to many desirable outcomes. A number of factors have been advanced as influences of efficacy beliefs, the exploration of which is essential to understanding the construct. Bandura (1977, 1986) viewed personal experience as the most important determinant, and preliminary evidence suggests the sense of teaching efficacy is indeed related to teachers' experiences in schools. To examine the impact of teaching experience on teaching efficacy, 83 preservice and 156 experienced teachers completed a modified version of the Teacher Efficacy Scale, and responded to open-ended questions eliciting explanations for their efficacy ratings and perceptions of external factors which impact their sense of teaching efficacy. Quantitative and qualitative differences in the efficacy beliefs of teachers and teacher education students were found. Preservice teachers rated the external dimension of teacher efficacy, the impact of elements outside the classroom on students' behavior and performance, lower than did experienced teachers. Analysis of open-ended item responses revealed preservice and experienced teachers explained the reasons for the efficacy ratings differently, in ways that highlighted the experiential nature of efficacy expectations, and suggested a developmental change in teacher efficacy as a function of school-based experience.