Collective teacher culture and school goal structure: Associations with teacher self-efficacy and engagement

Abstract

One purpose of this study was to test a model of a collective teacher culture (CTC) proposed by Skaalvik and Skaalvik (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, Social Psychology of Education 24:1389–1406, 2021). In this model, a second-order CTC variable was indicated by four first-order variables: positive and supportive social relations with colleagues, collective teacher efficacy, shared goals and values, and value consonance. A second purpose was to test how a CTC was associated with teachers’ perceptions of the school goal structure (learning and performance goal structures). A third purpose was to explore relations between the two dimensions of the school goal structure, CTC, teacher self-efficacy, and teacher engagement. Participants in the study were 1145 teachers in elementary school, middle school, and high school. The data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analyses and SEM analysis. The factor analyses supported the proposed model and revealed that a CTC was positively and strongly associated with a learning goal structure and positively and moderately associated with both teacher self-efficacy and teacher engagement. In contrast, a CTC was negatively associated with a performance goal structure. A learning goal structure was also positively associated with teacher self-efficacy and engagement. In the SEM model, CTC partly mediated the associations between a learning goal structure and teacher self-efficacy and engagement.