Principal’s individualized support and teacher’s self-efficacy: An empirical research

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence whether principals’ individual mentoring and coaching to support teachers could influence teachers’ self-efficacy. Data were collected from 843 Greek primary and secondary school teachers of 110 schools. Teachers were asked to fill in the PLQ to measure principal’s individualized support and TSES to measure teacher’s self-efficacy. CFA was conducted to identify the factor structure of TSES model. Consequently, results shown a first-order two-factor model fits best the data of TSES. TSES subscale, “Efficacy in Instructional Strategies” was excluded from the analysis. Findings of path analysis (Structural Equation Modelling analysis) showed that principal’s individualized support creating a culture of trust and respect could influence efficacy of teachers related only to student engagement. On the other hand, principal’s individualized support to teachers may not affect teacher’s efficacy related to classroom management. Implications and suggestions for future research and policy are discussed.