Self-efficacy and Critical Thinking of Novice and Experienced EFL Teachers: A Sequential Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Self-efficacy and critical thinking (CT) contribute to teachers’ successful performance in their profession and can ultimately develop the education system of society. The researcher designed a sequential explanatory mixed methods study to follow three objectives in exploring practical opportunities for EFL teacher development. First, it examined the relationship between SE and CT of novice and experienced teachers. Next, it investigated whether the two groups differed in the two variables. Third, it explored whether an instruction on CT skills could promote teachers’ thinking skills and self-efficacy. The results of Pearson’s r showed a positive correlation between the two dispositions. However, no statistically significant differences were found between the CT and self-efficacy of the groups. In the second phase, a quantitative study with a static group comparison design was followed by a qualitative study that investigated participants’ improvement after receiving training on thinking skills. The results of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) indicated statistically significant differences between the groups’ self-efficacy and CT. At the final step, volunteers from the experimental group were interviewed to clarify the results obtained from the quantitative phase. The study has implications for teachers and teacher trainers.