Self-Efficacy

The confidence or belief that we have in ourselves what we need to make our own learning happen and achieve our own goals (Hattie, 2012; Zimmerman, 1995).

The degree of self-efficacy has been found to be predictive of student motivation and persistence (Zimmerman, 1995). Research suggests (Hattie, 2012) that those with high self-efficacy are more likely to see hard tasks as challenges rather than trying to avoid them, and when they have failures, they see them as a chance to learn and to make a greater effort or to look for new information next time.

Those with low self-efficacy are more likely to avoid difficult tasks, which they view as personal threats; they are likely to have low or weak commitment to goals, and are more likely, in ‘failure’ situations, to dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles encountered, or to deny personal agency, and they are slow to recover their confidence (Hattie, 2012).

The concept of self-efficacy is closely associated with the concepts of mindsets and grit.

To develop a sense of self-efficacy, students need to see evidence that their efforts lead to improvement and goal attainment. Teachers can support the development of students sense of self-efficacy through individualized, formative feedback (formative feedback is more likely to enhance self-efficacy than summative feedback, and self-referenced feedback is more useful than feedback that compares performance to peers).

Self-efficacy beliefs have also been linked to teacher learning and effectiveness. Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs come from their perception of their ability to impact students’ motivation and achievement, and the belief that their improvement efforts can increase these impacts (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2006; Zee & Koomen, 2016). Forty years of accumulating research evidence suggests teachers' sense of self-efficacy affects outcomes across a range of domains including student achievement, student motivation, classroom practices, teachers' investment in teaching, teachers' professional goals, teachers' persistence when things do not go smoothly, teachers' resilience in the face of setbacks, and retention in the profession. Furthermore, teachers self-efficacy beliefs affect teachers' feelings of well-being and personal accomplishment; with low-efficacy teachers experiencing a higher rate of burnout. Such personal emotions and cognitions are believed to inform and alter future teacher self-efficacy beliefs and accompanying behaviors, which, in turn, affect both the classroom environment and student performance. In terms of classroom management and behavior practices, the research indicates that high-efficacy teachers tend to effectively cope with a range of problem behaviors; use proactive, student-centered classroom behavior strategies and practices; and establish less conflictual relationships with students (Zee & Koomen, 2016).

Sources:

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. New York: Routledge.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(2007).

Zee, M., & Koomen, H. M. Y. (2016). Teacher Self-Efficacy and Its Effects on Classroom Processes, Student Academic Adjustment, and Teacher Well-Being. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 981-1015. doi:doi:10.3102/0034654315626801

Zimmerman, B. (1995). 7. Self-efficacy and educational development. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.