Self-efficacy levels of pre-service teachers and its predictors


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2009

Öğrenci: ECE ER

Danışman: AHMET OK

Özet:

The present study aimed to investigate the self-efficacy levels of prospective teachers and to examine whether attitude towards teaching, competency in subject matter, mentor teacher - student teacher relationship and being a graduate of Anatolian Teacher High School (ATHS) predicted prospective teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching regarding classroom management, student engagement and instructional strategies. Participants of the study were 179 fourth year prospective teachers of English studying at the Foreign Language Education Departments of Gazi University, Middle East Technical University and Hacettepe University. Data was collected through (1) Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001), (2) Relationship with Your Mentor Scale (Capa & Loadman, 2004), (3) Scale for Students’ Attitudes Towards the Teaching Profession (Semerci, 1999). Data analysis was conducted using the statistical software SPSS 15.0. Results of the study revealed that the prospective teachers of English feel quite positive about teaching when their self-efficacy composite scores were considered. In relation to the self efficacy levels of prospective teachers regarding classroom management, student engagement and instructional strategies, the results of this study showed that pre-service teachers of English believe that they are more efficacious in applying instructional strategies than they are in engaging students and they are found to be the least efficacious in managing the classroom. According to the results attained through hierarchical regression analyses, attitude towards teaching variable significantly predicted self-efficacy composite scores, efficacy scores for student engagement, classroom management and instructional strategies. Self-efficacy composite scores and efficacy for instructional strategies were significantly predicted by the competency in subject matter variable. Mentor teacher-student teacher relationship variable predicted only the efficacy for student engagement scores and finally the findings indicated that being a graduate of ATHSs was a significant predictor for neither efficacy belief composite scores nor the subscales. Findings were discussed in the light of the literature and implications of the findings and recommendations for practice and further research have been presented.