Looking back on experienced teachers’ reflections: how did pre-service school practice support the development of self-efficacy?

Abstract

This research focuses on experienced Estonian teachers’ pre-service school practice. Each one of the 19 teachers interviewed in this study had over 25 years of professional experience. We were interested in their recollections of their pre-service school practice and the impact that their experience had on them professionally. The results indicate the importance of support systems and a cooperative atmosphere in the school, both of which enable a beginning teacher’s self-efficacy. Despite the lack of explicit support structures from the 1960s to the 1980s, implicit support existed and played an important role in facilitating the development of student teachers’ self-efficacy.