Publication: The relationship between school factors and teacher efficacy
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Date
2001
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Abstract
This study explored the extent to which teachers' sense of efficacy, both personal and collective, is related to school factors. School factors in this study included teachers' perceptions of the school climate and mentoring experiences. A measure of commitment to teaching was also used as previous research has found that commitment to teaching is significantly related to school climate and mentoring, as well as teachers' sense of efficacy. This is particularly relevant in the context of Singapore as the Ministry of Education has emphasised its commitment to improving school climate factors to develop a competent, cohesive and committed teaching force.<br><br>Five schools were selected in order to include representative samples of the different types of schools in Singapore and schools with different levels of academic attainment, in terms of overall school ranking and value-added ranking. 172 teachers completed a self-report questionnaire. As predicted, the study findings showed that a teacher's perceptions of the school climate are a significant predictor of both personal and collective teacher efficacy. School mentoring experiences however, were not found to explain any unique variance in teacher efficacy. In the present study teacher efficacy was not found to be a significant predictor of teaching commitment. Results showed that science teachers in the survey showed a lower sense of personal teacher efficacy than did teachers in other departments. It was also found that these teachers were less committed to teaching and fewer deemed themselves to have had a mentor.<br><br>The results of this study on teacher efficacy highlight the importance of a positive school climate in enhancing both the personal and collective efficacy beliefs of teachers. Collective efficacy was found to be more strongly related to school climate and the value a school adds academically to its students than personal efficacy. The implications of the study findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.