scholarly journals Using Focus Groups to Explore Sources of Self-Efficacy in Puerto Rican Preservice Teachers

Author(s):  
Yitza A. Arcelay-Rojas

This article used focus groups to explore Puerto Rican preservice teachers' perceptions of sources of self-efficacy. The present study allowed, through a qualitative design, examination of the experiences of preservice teachers at the end of their student teaching practicum. The qualitative design and the use of the focus group technique provided insight into the main sources of their perceived self-efficacy through the self-assessment of their field experience. The beginning of the student teaching practicum provoked an intense process of emotions in which the preservice teachers needed support and guidance, particularly in aspects of planning, differentiation, and classroom management. The participants agreed that substantial feedback and guidance from cooperating teachers and university supervisors helped them being confident and increased their perceived self-efficacy by reducing the feelings of anxiety generated by the practicum.

2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142199078
Author(s):  
Bradley J Regier

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and contextual factors that influenced preservice music teachers’ self-efficacy and concerns from pre-student teaching to student teaching. Data were collected for this case study through an open-response questionnaire about participants’ ( N = 4) efficacious teaching experiences, 10 weekly e-journal reflections written during pre-student teaching ( n = 5 weeks) and student teaching placements ( n = 5 weeks at 1 placement), interviews ( n = 4), and my own researcher journal ( n = 31 entries). Preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and concerns were most impacted by teaching experiences in familiar settings. Results indicated that participants made more comments about student-impact and self-survival concerns during student teaching than pre-student teaching. Further investigation revealed that participants consistently expressed concerns for classroom management during pre-student teaching and student teaching placements. Finding ways to expedite the developmental process could reduce the amount of time that preservice teachers focus on early contextual factors and instead identify ways to improve students’ music and academic performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (41) ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
David Wafula Waswa ◽  
Suleyman Celik

This study examined the influence of teaching practicum on preservice teachers’ sense of self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic. In particular, the study sort to establish if both online and school-based teaching practicums have the same influence on the preservice teachers self-efficacy. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 40 preservice teachers, 2 of them were also interviewed for further insight into the answers provided. It was found that the preservice teachers’ sense of self-efficacy was at best “average” during the pandemic time, with online-based practicum teachers showing a slightly stronger self-efficacy overall. However, school-based practicum teachers showed higher self-efficacy in classroom management and student engagement. The slight differences in efficacy levels were found not to be statistically significant to cause a difference in opinion between online teaching practicum and school-based teaching practicum. Possible reasons for general low levels of self-efficacy were discussed, and causes for slightly higher efficacy for online-based practicum also suggested.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Tammie T. Patterson ◽  
Dr. Aarek Farmer

<p><em>This quantitative, quasi-experimental design study examined 75 pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their own self-efficacy regarding</em><em> </em><em>classroom management. Data was collected at three different intervals throughout the student teaching experience, which was also accompanied by a training seminar focusing on classroom organization and management (Classroom Organization and Management Program). Results showed that pre-service teachers exhibited significantly higher perceptions of self-efficacy at different intervals throughout their student teaching. Data from this study provides Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) with further data, which will allow them to create program curricula and strategies to better prepare pre-service teachers to become successful and confident classroom teachers. </em><em></em></p><em></em><em></em>


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-35
Author(s):  
Chancey Bosch ◽  
Trevor Ellis

Technology-enhanced learning continues to provide opportunities for increased interventions in educational programing. For teacher education programs, novelty pales in comparison to providing meaningful instruction and enduring outcomes. The use of avatars has provided integration of research evidence that increases intended behaviors; however, research is lacking on teacher self-efficacy change via an avatar experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and avatar use in a teacher education program. A relational study using both parametric and non-parametric designs for four different samples indicated a significant relationship between avatar intervention and teacher self-efficacy in classroom management, instructional strategies, and student engagement. The sample from a student teaching course, which had a limited number of participants, provided mixed results. More studies need to include experimental designs and isolation of variabilities in the avatar model.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Fotopoulou

The importance and significance of the role of pre-service teachers’ education in building up their identity formation is well-recognized. This work investigates one dimension of this complex formation: how pre-service teachers perceive themselves as teachers in a pre-service teacher education compulsory course of teaching practice in Greece. An experience report from a teaching practicum is presented based on a qualitative analysis of anonymous questionnaires (N=144). Our analysis reveals that student-teachers are engaged in a process of transformation which encompasses from the academic preparation to the teaching reality. We identify three interconnected stages in this transformation process: i) first contact (e.g., choice and field of their studies, relation between theory and practice), ii) familiarization (e.g., get in touch with teaching activity, with the space and the operation of kindergarten, collaboration with teachers), and iii) function (e.g., interaction with pupils, acquiring experience, acting as teachers). According to the data analysis, preservice teachers tend to attribute greater importance to specific elements of each stage. More specifically, the choice and field of their studies as well as the teaching activity (planning, implementation and feedback) were underlined as very important elements in the second and third stage respectively, while a great number of preservice students highlighted the interaction with students in the classroom as well as their act and operation as teachers in the third stage. Summing up, our findings indicate that pre-service teachers perceive themselves as teachers through four-correlated to each other in a bidirectional manner- issues: the academic framework, the teaching activity, themselves acting as teachers, and the students. Furthermore, the aforementioned four issues point out that pre-service teachers’ perceptions are not stable but are subjected to a transformative process that take place during their teaching practice. Accordingly, the findings of this study could provide a conceptual framework that incorporates pre-service teachers’ perceptions and examine teachers’ identity formation from this specific perspective of pre-service studies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 074193251989686
Author(s):  
Holly M. Menzies ◽  
Wendy Peia Oakes ◽  
Kathleen Lynne Lane ◽  
David James Royer ◽  
Emily D. Cantwell ◽  
...  

This study examined perceptions of teachers who implemented a tiered system of support, the comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered (Ci3T) model of prevention. We reported findings of four focus groups with a total of 18 elementary teachers who implemented Ci3T for 2 years. While the Ci3T model comprised elements addressing academics, behavior, and social-emotional learning, teachers were predominately concerned with issues related to students’ behavior. Teachers reported difficulty moving from reactive to proactive classroom management approaches theoretically grounded in behavioral principles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Tiffany Karalis Noel ◽  
Melanie Shoffner

The paper explores how preservice ELA teachers’ expectations of teaching compare to the reality of their experiences during the first year of teaching. The authors consider common concerns of beginning ELA teachers and their implications for teacher self-efficacy. The paper is informed by narrative research, which provides practical and specific insights into the lived experiences of participants. The first data set consists of reflective writings on a self-identified topic connected to ELA teaching and/or learning throughout the semester. Two, one-hour individual interviews conducted during the first year of teaching form the second data set. The paper provides empirical insights about how preservice experiences inform ELA teachers’ expectations of first-year teaching and their development of self-efficacy. Their two major concerns – classroom management and building rapport – identified their fears and insecurities about managing disruptive students and establishing connections with students. These struggles offer a connection between expectations, experiences and self-efficacy. Likewise, they point to the need for teacher education to address preservice teachers’ self-efficacy as a way to support their successful entry into the classroom. The paper includes implications for the development of increased opportunities to study and experience critical concerns of the profession. Such learning experiences offer preservice teachers meaningful opportunities to engage with experiential learning, applied practice and critical reflection before their first year in the field. The paper fulfills an identified need to study how differences between expectation and reality can be difficult for beginning ELA teachers to reconcile, a disconnect that lends itself to considerations of teachers’ self-efficacy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Walker ◽  
Jody L. Langdon ◽  
Gavin Colquitt ◽  
Starla McCollum

There is limited research that includes democratic practices to evaluate the PETE program in its ability to prepare preservice teachers (PTs). In other areas such as community health, methodologies have been used to provide a voice to individuals living the experience. The purpose of this study was to examine PTs’ perceptions of a teacher education program during the student teaching experience using Photovoice. A group of PTs (N = 16) from a university in southeast Georgia were given 14 days to capture the strengths and weakness of their teacher preparation program through photography. The PTs then discussed their photographs during two focus groups with the researcher. The focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed. Data analysis included an evaluation of interview transcripts and photographs using content analysis to identify significant themes that emerged. An action plan to promote curricular change was created by the PTs and presented to PETE faculty.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Joseph Tufuor Kwarteng ◽  
Peter Sappor

The study examined preservice teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching cost accounting at the pretertiary level. It employed the descriptive cross-sectional survey design involving final year preservice accounting teachers at the University of Cape Coast. An adapted questionnaire referred to as Teacher Self-Efficacy and Mastery Experience Scale (TSEMES) was used to gather relevant data complemented by the academic records of the respondents to address the problem. The return rate of the instrument was 93%. Descriptive (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (simple linear regression) were used to analyse the data. The study found out that preservice accounting teachers were highly efficacious in classroom management compared to student engagement and instructional practices. Also, mastery experience had a positive influence on preservice accounting teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching cost accounting. Therefore, it was recommended that accounting teacher educators pay more attention to competencies related to instructional strategies and student engagement by engaging more with the preservice accounting teachers in these areas. In the deployment of teachers, the Ghana Education Service should prioritise preservice accounting teachers with higher academic achievement.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document