Collective teacher efficacy beliefs: testing measurement invariance using alignment optimization among four cultures

PurposeCollective teacher efficacy (CTE) is a promising construct for understanding how schools can foster student achievement. Although much of the early research on CTE took place in North America, researchers from other parts of the world are now delving into this topic. The current study explores whether these powerful collective beliefs function similarly across diverse cultural and linguistic groups: Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel, and teachers in Turkey and the USA.Design/methodology/approachParticipants included 4,216 teachers from Israel, Turkey and the USA, representing four cultures: Arab, Jewish, Turkish and American. We tested configural invariance using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (AMOS) and alignment optimization (Mplus) to identify the groups in which specific parameters are noninvariant, and to compare the latent factor means.FindingsConfigural invariance showed adequate fit of the model structure across the four groups. Based on invariance tests, using the alignment optimization method, CTE scales held different meanings for specific items across the four cultures, where the USA and Arab cultures were the sources of these differences. Furthermore, in comparing the two-dimensional CTE belief scale across the four groups, latent means revealed the highest mean ranking for the USA and the lowest for Turkey.Originality/valueThis research makes a significant theoretical contribution by examining and comparing the concept of teachers' collective efficacy in multiple cultures. This comparison can also contribute to instructional teaching practices worldwide.

Collective teacher culture: exploring an elusive construct and its relations with teacher autonomy, belonging, and job satisfaction

One purpose of this study was to analyze relations between four possible indicators of a collective teacher culture by means of confirmatory factor analyses. The indicators were termed “shared goals values”, “value consonance”, “collective teacher efficacy”, and “supportive colleagues”. A second purpose was to explore relations between collective teacher culture and teachers’ experiences of autonomy, belonging, and job satisfaction. Participants were 760 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. The data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analyses and SEM analyses. The correlations between the four indicators of a collective culture ranged from .44 to .63 and both a model with first order factors and a model with a second order collective culture variable had good fit to the data. The analysis showed that a second order collective teacher culture variable was strongly and positively associated with the teachers’ experiences of autonomy, belonging, and job satisfaction.

Review of collective teacher efficacy research: Implications for teacher development, school administrators and education researchers

Out of around two hundred different variables that are known to have some relation with student achievement, Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) was reported to be among the most influential. Hence, CTE has received attention of many researchers as a topic investigation. The purpose of the present review is two-fold; (a) to present an overview of research on CTE, and (b) to draw some implications and suggest some recommendations for teacher development, school administration and further research on the topic. This paper engaged the methodology of systematic literature review to collect data from Google Scholar database. Sixty-six sources were employed in the review. During the analysis, the reviewed papers were sorted into categories and themes based on their major focus. The results revealed four major factors that influence CTE; (i) principle’s leadership, (ii) teacher professional learning, (iii) teachers’ self-efficacy, and (iv) organisational factors. Furthermore, it was also found that CTE has a significant impact on (i) student learning, and (ii) teacher learning. The findings imply that (i) teacher development should providing avenues to improve teacher efficacy, (ii) school administrators need to focus on what might enhance teacher learning in school in order to foster positive CTE beliefs, and (ii) further research is needed in investigating the indirect link CTE has with leadership and relational/structural conditions in schools. Learning process as essential components of distance learning (synchronous or asynchronous).

Fostering Collective Efficacy?: What School Leaders Should Know

Statements claiming that efforts of policy makers, system and school leaders, and staff developments toward education reforms might be better served by strategically and intentionally considering how to foster collective efficacy throughout the conceptualization, design, delivery, and assessment of change initiatives (Donohoo, 2018, p. 340) have led schools and districts to attempt to do just that. However, such conclusions may not be justified. The present review examines available research using a framework inspired by Willingham (2012) which is meant to guide leaders in evaluating the trustworthiness and value of research. Willingham (2012) notes that leaders should be able to recognize the change when it happens, know how large the change should be, and estimate the length of time the change will take. This framework is applied to CTE literature to gauge whether the research base surrounding collective teacher efficacy is useful to school and district leaders when making decisions regarding school improvement and organizational change initiatives. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

Investigation of regulatory role of collective teacher efficacy in the effect of job satisfaction and satisfaction with life on professional burnout

This study examined the effect of job satisfaction and satisfaction with life on perceptions of teachers' professional burnout and the regulatory role of collective teacher efficacy perception by conducting applied research on teachers who work in different educational settings. The measuring tools were "Maslach Burnout Inventory", "Short Form Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire", "Satisfaction with Life Scale" and "Collective Teacher Efficacy Scale". The findings of the research showed that: Teachers' perceptions of job satisfaction and satisfaction with life negatively affected their perceptions of professional burnout. Collective teacher efficacy had a regulatory effect on the relationship between satisfaction with life and professional burnout, and on the relationship between job satisfaction and professional burnout.

The relationship between teacher leadership and collective teacher efficacy in Chinese upper secondary schools

PurposeThe aim of this study was to understand the relationship between teacher leadership and collective teacher efficacy in Chinese upper secondary schools.Design/methodology/approachBased on survey answers from 1,074 upper secondary teachers in a Chinese city, path analysis was conducted to understand the relationship.FindingsThis study identified that a number of dimensions of teacher leadership (recognition, collegiality, participation and positive environment) had positive relationships with group competence. Meanwhile, the dimensions of developmental focus, participation and positive environment had positive relationships with task analysis. Additionally, when the authors treated collective efficacy as a single variable, the dimensions of developmental focus, congeniality, participation and positive environment had positive relationships with collective efficacy.Originality/valueThis study is to understand the relationship between teacher leadership and collective teacher efficacy in a collective culture and hierarchical education system.