TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS AND AIMS OF PRE- SERVICE ENGLISH TEACHERS Master’s thesis Elli Kinnunen University of Jyväskylä Department of languages Spring 2012 HUMANISTINEN TIEDEKUNTA KIELTEN LAITOS Elli Kinnunen “Teacher self-efficacy beliefs and aims of pre-service English teachers” Pro gradu-tutkielma Englannin kieli kevät 2012 88 sivua Kun tulevat englanninopettajat siirtyvät opinnoistaan työelämään, heitä tulee kohtamaan haastava työelämä, jossa heidän taitonsa ja osaamisensa opettajina tullaan punnitsemaan. Opettajankoulutuksessa luodut mielikuvat itsestä opettajana ja osaamisestaan opettajana ovat vahvoja suunnannäyttäjiä siinä, kuinka taitavia opettajia näistä tulevista englanninopettajista lopulta kehittyy ja kuinka hyvin he tulevat jaksamaan työssään. Lisäksi näihin käsityksiin omasta osaamisestaan ja sen kehittymiseen liittyvät opiskelijoiden omat tavoitteet omaan opettamiseensa. Näihin käsityksiin omasta osaamisestaan ja tavoitteisiin liittyy tieto opetettavasta aineesta, tieto oppilaista ja tieto siitä, kuinka tieto välitetään oppilaille. Tämä tutkimus perustuu Banduran (1977) teoriaan niin sanotusta minäpystyvyydestä (self- efficacy beliefs). Tämän teorian mukaan oletukset minäpystyvyydestä eli odotukset siitä, kuin hyvin tietyistä haasteista tulee selviytymään, ohjaavat voimakkaasti ihmisen päätöksentekoa, vaivannäköä tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi sekä lopulta sitä, kuinka menestyksekäs ihminen on yrityksessään. Lisäksi Gibbs (1999) on tutkinut opettajien minäpystyvyysodotuksia ja on osoittanut, että hyvät minäpystyvyysodotukset opettajilla saa heidät jaksamaan paremmin työssään, olevan pidetympiä opettajia sekä kehittyvän työssään tehokkaammin. Tämä tutkimus on kyselytutkimuksena tehty selvitys tulevien englanninopettajien käsityksistä omasta osaamisestaan opettajina sekä heidän tavoitteistaan opettamiseensa liittyen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että tulevien englanninopettajien minäpystyvyysodotukset yleisimpiä opettajuuden osa-alueita kohtaan ovat vaihtelevia, mutta pääosin positiivisia. Eniten epävarmuutta koettiin kieliopin ja luokanhallintataitojen osalta. Tavoitteita osallistujilla oli useimmiten oppilaiden motivoinnin, tiettyjen kieliosaamisen opettamisen sekä oman ammatillisen kehittymisen saralla. Key words: Self-efficacy beliefs, teacher self-efficacy, aims, teacher knowledge Table of contents 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………..3 2 Self-efficacy beliefs…………………………………………………………..4 2.1 Teacher self-efficacy beliefs…………………………………………..6 2.2 Sources of efficacy information………………………………………8 2.3 Types of teacher self-efficacies……………………………………….10 2.4 Measurement of self-efficacy…………………………………………11 3 Finnish education system and National Core Curriculum………………12 3.1 Finnish education system……………………………………………...12 3.2 Finnish National Core Curriculum………………………………...…13 4 Teacher knowledge and aims……………………………………………….15 4.1 Subject matter knowledge…………………………………………….17 4.2 Pedagogical knowledge……………………………………………….18 4.3 Knowledge of students………………………………………………...19 4.4 Curricular knowledge………………………………………………….21 4.5 Knowledge of context…………………………………………………..22 4.6 Interaction skills…………………………………………………………23 4.7 Pedagogical content knowledge………………………………………24 4.8 Aims in teaching………………………………………………………...25 5 The study……………………………………………………………………….27 5.1 Questionnaire……………………………………………………………...27 5.1.1 Questionnaire type and setting…………………………………...…27 5.1.2 Participants……………………………………………………………..28 5.2 Results………………………………………………………………………29 5.3 Likert-scale questions ………………………………………………………..43 6 Discussion……………………………………………………………………….72 7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………77 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………80 Appendix………………………………………………………………………….84 1 Introduction   Teaching is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the world. It requires innovation, sensitivity to other people, authority, profound knowledge of the subject that is taught and of the people that it are being taught. Teacher training aims to give future teachers the tools and readiness for the work cut out for them. However, when a pre-service teacher steps up in front of a class of students, how competent do they actually feel? The main idea about self-efficacy beliefs is that the better you think you are at something, the more likely you will be good at it. Self-efficacy beliefs is a complex issuet that consist of different sources of efficacy information (how do you know how good you are?), the reciprocal forces of the environment, cognitive factors and affective factors, which all contribute to the impression of “how competent I am”. Self-efficacy beliefs is a concept that has been pioneered by Bandura (1977), who defined self-efficacy beliefs as an outcome of the triadic reciprocal causation process: how the environment, human behavior and personal internal factors create expectations of how well a person can deal with different situations. These expectations greatly affect the choices a person makes, the effort he or she puts into them and ultimately, how successful he or she in achieving the goal. In the case of teachers, self efficacy is an important matter to discuss. The implications of good teacher self-efficacy beliefs are evident: as Gibbs (1999) points out, teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs are less likely to drop out of teaching and to have better teaching results. In addition to teacher self-efficacy beliefs, the aims of pre-service teachers have an effect on how they develop as teachers. Different individuals have different personal goals in teaching regarding both language skills and development as a teacher. What the pre-service teachers find relevant and important in their teaching directs how they put effort into developing themselves, which consequently affects the development of self-efficacy beliefs. In English language teaching, these aims coincide with what is necessary to learn about the language to be a proficient user of English as well as what the National Curriculum outlines as necessary goals for English teaching in schools. The main research questions of the study to be reported: - How self-efficacious do pre-service English teachers feel about teaching different language skills? - How self-efficacious do pre-service English teachers feel about other areas of pedagogical knowledge? - What are the most important aims for pre-service English teachers have set for themselves This study will give an overview on teacher self-efficacy, areas of teacher knowledge and aims. The study conducted consists of a questionnaire in which the self-efficacy beliefs and aims in teaching of Finnish pre-service English teachers were studied. 2 Self-efficacy beliefs Self-efficacy is a term that roughly corresponds to peoples' sense of their own potential: How capable they believe to be in achieving different goals. In other words, how successful they believe to be in the future in different areas of life. Self-efficacy beliefs are developed throughout the life, they are affected by numerous different factors and they have a great influence in many areas of life. One of the first pioneers of self-efficacy was Bandura (1977). He based his theory on the assumption that humans operate as agents in a process called triadic reciprocal causation. The model suggests that human behavior and agency is an outcome of three interrelated forces: environmental influences, human behavior and internal personal factors such as biological processes, cognitive and affective factors. This triadic force system regulates what people think about themselves, how they perceive their potentials and shortcomings and ultimately, the courses of action people decide to take based on their assessment of themselves and the situation. On the basis of this view, Bandura (1977) concluded that what people believe to be their capabilities to cope in different situations has a great effect on what the actual outcome in the situation will be. For example, if a teacher is very confident in being able to motivate students to learn grammar, the teacher is more likely able to succeed due to the courses of action he or she decides to take and the attitude in which he or she approaches the task. Self-efficacy beliefs influence the choices people make, the effort that is put into attaining goals, persistence when faced with drawbacks and also their emotions (Pajares 1997). Overall, the influence of self-efficacy, according to Bandura (1986) is the most crucial factor in predicting human agency – human behaviour is better predicted from self-efficacy beliefs than the actual level of proficiency. People with high self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to be more optimistic, outgoing and entrepreneurial - on the other hand, low self- efficacy can lead to depression, helplessness and anxiety (Schwarzer 1998). Self-efficacy beliefs affect all aspects of social life: relationships, careers, development of personality and attitudes towards life. In the present study, however, the concept of self-efficacy is observed from the point of view of self-efficacy beliefs in teachers. 2.1 Teacher self-efficacy beliefs Teacher self-efficacy is a teacher’s belief in how well he or she can manage the teaching situation, understanding of his or her potentials and knowledge of the subject. That means that teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to be more confident as teachers, perceive themselves as good teachers and ultimately be more effective in teaching. In addition, good self- efficacy beliefs often result in a positive expectation about one's future career. In contrast, teachers with low self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to feel less successful in their jobs, be less confident, and give up in the face of challenging situations and have negative expectations about their careers. It is not therefore surprising that teachers with low self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to quit their jobs than teachers who have higher self-efficacy beliefs (Gibbs 2002: 7). Teacher self-efficacy beliefs are not a question of whether one has a solely negative or positive outlook on the teaching career, but which parts of pedagogical competence teachers experience being good or poor at (Juukkola 2008: 8). All teachers have their strengths and weaknesses. For example, someone can be very proficient in teaching grammar; someone else may get along with students and find it easy to keep discipline; someone has a way in motivating students to learn. All in all, it is important to be aware which strengths and weaknesses teachers experience possessing and how it affects their image of themselves as teachers. Naturally, the more weaknesses one experiences having the lower the overall self-efficacy belief is. In contrast, if one feels that he or she possesses more strengths than weaknesses, the overall self-efficacy belief is higher. Persistence in teaching careers is a real problem in many countries. According to Almiala (2008: 20), 20% of graduate teachers in Finland leave their jobs in the first two years of teaching. Gibbs (1999) found that around 60% of teachers felt ill-prepared for their jobs. Teacher self-efficacy, states Gibbs (2002: 7), is one of the factors that have an effect on how well beginning teachers survive the first years of their career, which makes it an important issue to consider in teacher training and research. Self-efficacy beliefs influence teachers’ careers in several ways: Teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs tend to be more satisfied with their jobs. Teachers who have high self-efficacy beliefs are usually happier with their careers and have lower rates of work related stress (Gibbs 1999). They tend to stay longer periods of time in their jobs and show more commitment. In addition, self-efficacious teachers are less often absent from their jobs (Chapman 1994: 17) Self-efficacious teachers are more persistent. When facing problematic situations, teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs are often persistent and optimistic about positive outcomes. In addition, teachers who tend to visualize optimistic outcomes are more likely to find efficient solutions for difficult situations (Gibbs 2002: 6). Moreover, teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs are less likely to refer problematic students for special education (Soodak et al. 1988). Teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs are more innovative. Teachers who have high efficacy beliefs have more courage to be innovative in designing lessons and putting curricula into practice. Efficacious teachers also seek new methods of teaching and instruction and are more likely to use materials innovatively and experimentally (Henson 2011: 5). Students of self-efficacious teachers are more successful. Teachers’ sense of efficacy also has a great deal of influence on their students. Teacher efficaciousness can be directly related to students’ own sense of efficacy, states Henson (2001: 5). In addition, efficacious teachers tend to have more motivated students. A study conducted by Caprara et al. (2006) also shows that students of self-efficacious teachers tend to have greater academic success. 2.2 Sources of efficacy information Bandura (1977) outlines four main sources of self-efficacy information: Performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physiological states. Performance accomplishments are usually the most potent source of self- efficacy information, as stated by Bandura (1977). Actual mastery experiences raise personal self-efficacy most effectively. Regarding teachers, mastery experiences might include such things as being able to control a classroom in a difficult situation (“I am good at class management”) or being able to get an unmotivated student interested in the subject (“I am good at motivating even the most reluctant students). Failure experiences, on the other hand, can have various effects on self-efficacy (Jacobs 1984: 6). According to Jacobs, repeated failures that do not occur due to a lack of persistence or difficult situational factors may lower self-efficacy beliefs. On the contrary, failure experiences after several successes may have little or no effect whatsoever on self-efficacy beliefs. In fact, failure experiences may in some situations even enhance self-efficacy, if a difficulty is after some failures overcome. Consequently it would contribute to a self-efficacy belief that even major difficulties can be overcome and enhance persistence in similar situations in the future. Vicarious experiences are another possible source of self-efficacy information. Vicarious experiences, as outlined by Bandura (1977), are experiences gained from observing successful peers in a similar situation. The efficaciousness of vicarious experiences depend on how close the peer or person in a similar situation is experienced to be to oneself, and how similar the situation. For example, a pre-service teacher may have heightened sense of self-efficacy after observing a fellow student coping well in teacher training studies. In contrast, observing a peer failing at their attempts may lower self-efficacy beliefs. Vicarious experiences can vary greatly between individuals as people differ in their perceptions and how they relate to their peers. Verbal persuasion is another source of self-efficacy information according to Bandura (1977). Verbal persuasion means that people can be influenced by the power of suggestion to raise their personal self-efficacy belief. Verbal persuasion can help people to put forward their best effort in difficult situations, which results in better success rates and ultimately a higher self- efficacy belief. An example of this can be a pre-service teacher who receives encouragement from his or her peers or good feedback on his or her performance in teacher training sessions. According to Jacobs (1984: 7), verbal persuasion can be the most efficient source of self-efficacy information when learning new behaviours are concerned. The effect of verbal persuasion depends greatly on situations and the personal relationship between the receiver and contributor of persuasion. For example, the praises of a teacher might have more influence on personal views of efficacy than the praises of a parent, since the teacher would normally have more concrete knowledge of how well the person has succeeded, whereas parents often give encouragement even without knowing if their child has actually done well or not. Physiological states are the last source of self-efficacy information outlined by Bandura (1977). Physiological states refer to the emotional arousal caused by the situation. The physiologically strong state of arousal, anxiety or fear contributes to a prediction of failure. In contrast, a calm, assertive state of mind contributes to a positive outcome expectancy. A usual example of this is can be a pre-service teacher who is preparing for his or her first teaching