Organizational learning and climate as predictors of self-efficacy

Abstract

This study broadens organizational contextual considerations by examining organizational learning, participation in organizational learning activities and organizational climate as possible predictors of self-efficacy. As schools have been studied as organizations (Handy, 1986, Understanding schools as organizations, Harmondsworth: Penguin; Ostroff, 1993, Organization Behavior and Human Decision Process, 56, 56–90; Ostroff & Schmitt, 1993, Acadamy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1345–1361), this study provides regression results from n = 679 teachers and indicated that organizational climate and organizational learning were significant predictors of teacher self efficacy, controlling for several individual level variables (i.e., participation in organizational learning, personal self-efficacy, and teaching efficacy). Differences between results from the sample of teachers and n = 734 non-teachers (e.g., principals, assistant principals, administrators, counselors, paraprofessional, custodial, food service, and transportation staff) were examined with regard to predictor variables for teaching efficacy. For teachers, both organizational learning and personal self-efficacy were significant predictors of teaching efficacy, whereas for the group of non-teachers, they were not. In both groups, however, participation in organizational learning was a significant predictor, while organizational climate was not (contrary to Taylor & Tashakkori, 1995, Journal of Experimental Education, 63(3), 217–230). Overall, findings provide evidence for extending the research beyond schools and including organizational learning as a potentially important variable in further studying individual outcomes and organizational effectiveness.