Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy: A Challenge for Professional Development Toward Teaching Science as Inquiry

Abstract

A teacher’s receptivity to inquiry-based instruction is varied due to teacher self-efficacy which invariably affected by his or her immediate professional environment. This study examined how professional development (PD) designs affect in-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs to teach inquiry science. This investigation had three objectives: (a) describe teachers’ perceived self-efficacy towards inquiry-based science, (b) investigate the nature of professional development designs for inquiry-based science, and (c) examine the association among school characteristics, perceived support from PD programs, and teachers’ perceived self-efficacy in student engagement in scientific inquiry. Quantitative data using questionnaires were collected from 350 science teachers in state schools of Colombo and Homagama zones in Sri Lanka in 2018. A General Linear Model (GLM) Univariate analysis using SPSS 21.00 programme was used for data analysis. Findings revealed in-service teachers’ perceived self- efficacy in student engagement was lower than that of classroom management and instructional strategies associated with inquiry-based teaching. A notable fact was less use of PD programs with mastery experiences, which allows science teachers authentic experiences of scientific inquiry practices, while PD programs with vicarious sources of efficacy were comparatively higher. It also reported self-reported efficacy in engaging students in scientific inquiry significantly differed according to school type, support from PD programs, teachers’ self-efficacy in instructional strategies and classroom management. The results found no statistically significant differences in perceived efficacy in student engagement by education division in which school was situated. The implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed. Key words: Teacher self- efficacy, student engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, inquiry-based science, professional development