Building Dispositions and Self-Efficacy in Preservice Art Teachers

Abstract

Teaching art well in the Conceptual Age requires more from preservice art teachers than knowledge and skills; candidates will need capacities that inspire joy, empathy, and innovation (Pink, 2006). Dispositions that contextualize these capacities come from the affective aptitudes of teachers’ inner lives where feelings, perceptions, and beliefs reside (Klein, 2008). This article offers a theoretical, research-based interpretation of findings from a preceding study that observed a positive relationship between teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy and sense of humor beliefs. Data collected from K–12 art teachers (N = 354) on auto-report scales measured perceptions of their humor on four dimensions and teaching self-efficacy on three dimensions. The findings, joined with an analysis of corroborating research, identify five teacher dispositions that intersect humor with self-efficacy. Teacher educators are urged to consider developing dispositions that strengthen preservice self-efficacy beliefs for success in the ambiguous 21st century.