Self-efficacy and Teaching

Self-efficacy refers to a person’s belief in their own capability to effectively perform a specific task. Research in many areas of human behavior has demonstrated that self-efficacy beliefs powerfully affect our behavior, learning, performance and motivation. Or, as Henry Ford said, “whether you think that you can or you can’t, you’re probably right.”

A teacher’s belief in her ability to bring about desired changes in her students cannot be underestimated. Over the last 25-30 years of research, compelling evidence has been amassed linking teacher self-efficacy to positive student and teacher outcomes.

“Teachers’ sense of efficacy has been shown to be a powerful construct related to student outcomes such as achievement, motivation, and sense of efficacy. It was also related to teachers’ behavior in the classroom. It affects the effort they put into teaching, the goals they set, and their level of aspiration. Teachers with a strong sense of efficacy are open to new ideas and more willing to experiment with new methods to better meet the needs of their students, and tend to exhibit greater levels of planning and organization. Efficacy influences teachers’ persistence when things do not go smoothly and their resilience in the face of setbacks. Greater efficacy enables teachers to be less critical of students when they make errors, to work longer with a student who is struggling, and to be less inclined to refer a difficult student to special education. Teachers with a higher sense of efficacy exhibit greater enthusiasm for teaching, have greater commitment to teaching and are more likely to stay in teaching. At the school level, higher teacher efficacy is related to the health of the organizational climate, an orderly and positive school atmosphere, greater classroom-based decision making, and the strength of the collective efficacy. Clearly the study of this construct has born much fruit in the field of education (Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998, pg 16)."

All of this seems self-perpetuating and cyclical: your self-efficacy is low, you are unmotivated, you don’t try very hard, you fail, your self-efficacy is low…and so on, in a downward spiral. Or, your self-efficacy is high, you try hard, you succeed, your self-efficacy is high…and so on in your climb to success.

I don’t know about you, but this wows me a little bit. Especially since my own confidence in the classroom is low. Am I doomed?