Options
An exploration of teacher self-efficacy among beginning teachers in Singapore
Author
Tan, Jing Yi
Supervisor
Lim-Ratnam, Christina
Abstract
Though Singapore’s education system has been lauded for providing quality teacher induction and professional development programmes, teachers in Singapore continue to feel less confident in certain aspects of teaching. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the state of teacher self-efficacy (TSE) among beginning teachers (BTs) in Singapore. It aimed to understand in which specific teaching areas BTs feel efficacious (or not), and what are the implications of BTs possessing a sense of high or low self-efficacy in their teaching. The study used a mixed method design known as Q methodology. Q methodology was designed to allow participants to express their subjective viewpoints surrounding a particular topic through a by-person (rather than by-variable) analytical approach. 19 beginning teachers (less than 4 years of teaching experience) took part in this study. Each participant engaged in an item-sorting activity (i.e., Q-sort) and a semi-structured interview conducted within a single, 60-minute online session. The analysis of the Q-sorts and interview data showed that these beginning teachers’ perspectives of their self-efficacy could be grouped into three profiles – (1) teachers efficacious in pedagogical content knowledge who focus on internal factors, (2) teachers efficacious in content knowledge who focus on task-specific factors, and (3) teachers efficacious in classroom management who focus on broader contextual factors.
Date Issued
2021
Call Number
LB2844.1.N4 Tan
Date Submitted
2021