Teacher self-efficacy profiles: Determinants, outcomes, and generalizability across teaching level

Abstract

There have been considerable advances in understanding teacher self-efficacy in the past two decades. However, the core theoretical postulate that teachers may simultaneously possess a variety of teaching-related self-efficacy beliefs at varying levels has not been systematically examined. Adopting a person-centered, multidimensional perspective on teacher self-efficacy, the current study aims to identify distinct profiles of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in lower and upper secondary teachers and examine the replicability of the profiles across these groups. In addition, we draw on social cognitive perspectives to posit several predictors of teacher self-efficacy profile membership, including professional development provisions and needs, mentoring experiences, gender, and teaching experience, and outcomes of profile membership, including job satisfaction, perceived classroom climate, and teacher collaboration. Results revealed six teacher self-efficacy profiles, which were found to replicate entirely across lower and upper secondary teachers. Job satisfaction, classroom climate, and teacher collaboration were found to differ as a function of the profiles, and these relations were found to be moderated by teaching level, suggesting context-differentiated processes in the outcomes of teacher self-efficacy profile membership. Finally, profile membership was shown to be predicted by professional development needs and provisions, mentoring experiences, gender, and years of teaching experience. Implications of the results for teacher self-efficacy theory and research are discussed.