Teachers’ Self- and Collective Efficacy: The Case of Novice English Language Teachers

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and collective efficacy among 55 novice EFL teachers from Milad Language Institute in Tehran, Iran. The participants were asked to complete the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), and the short version of Collective Teachers’ Efficacy Instrument (CTEI) (Goddard and Goddard, 2001). Data analysis revealed that there is a significant relationship between the teachers’ self-efficacy and their collective efficacy. To investigate which components of self-efficacy might have more predictive power in predicting teachers' collective efficacy, regression analysis was run. The first subscale of self-efficacy, i.e., self-efficacy for students' engagement, was found to be a good predictor of teachers' self-efficacy. The paper presents possible differences in the sources of collective efficacy and teacher self-efficacy and the interaction between teachers’ self-efficacy and collective efficacy. The conclusions and implications of the research are discussed with reference to Bandura's (1977) social cognitive theory and the earlier findings.