The aim of this study was to explore the changes in student teacher efficacy beliefs for teaching priority learners over the course of a one-year postgraduate initial teacher education programme. The sample comprised 23 participants enrolled in the 2015 cohort in a pilot initial teacher education programme specifically tailored to enhance student teacher expertise to teach priority learners. Participants completed a specially designed and refined self-efficacy scale – Self-Efficacy with Diverse Learners: Student Teacher Scale – that targeted their efficacy beliefs about successfully promoting learning for priority learners at the start and at the end of their programme. Changes in efficacy beliefs were statistically measured and the findings indicated that student teacher efficacy beliefs for teaching priority learners had improved significantly over the course of their teacher education programme. In particular, the findings showed that their reported efficacy beliefs for implementing strategies for teaching English speakers of other languages, students with low socioeconomic status, and Māori learners had nearly doubled. Such findings have significant implications for teacher education reforms that aim to enhance student teacher adaptive expertise and in so doing, assist with the long-term goal of achieving more equitable educational outcomes in New Zealand.
Enhancing student teacher self-efficacy beliefs to teach priority learners in New Zealand
