Investigating Preservice Teachers’ Efficacy Level and Factors Influencing It

Abstract

This study investigated preservice teachers’ efficacy level and factors influencing it. The participants were English Language Teaching students of cohort 2015, Universitas Negeri Malang. The data were taken from 41 preservice teachers by using an online questionnaire and a face-to-face interview. The online questionnaire provided the data about the participants’ efficacy level and factors influencing it. The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) was adapted to measure the participants’ efficacy level. An in-depth interview with six respondents who agreed to participate was conducted to follow-up the questionnaire data. The interview was aimed to get profound data about factors influencing the participants’ efficacy level. The preservice teachers reported that four significant factors influenced their self-efficacy of teaching. They are the participants’ experience in a formal and informal teaching practice, feedback and support from the school environment, observing other teachers’ performance, and English proficiency as factors influencing their efficacy. The average result also shows that the preservice teachers’ efficacy level was 3.31 (5-scale rating for highly effective). The participants perceived that they were highly efficacious in instructional strategies (3.41) and a little efficacious in student engagement (3.16). By knowing their efficacy level, preservice teachers are suggested to start joining teacher professional development (TPD) to develop and maintain their English and teaching skill. In-service teachers are also suggested to join TPD to maintain their skills because preservice teachers look up to them as role models. Preservice teachers should also be given support from in-service teachers and Department of English.
 
 Keywords: preservice teacher, teacher-efficacy, student engagement, instructional strategies