ERIC Number: EJ1024370
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0313-7155
EISSN: N/A
Pre-Service Teachers' Efficacy Beliefs and Concerns in Malaysia, England and New Zealand
Berg, David A. G.; Smith, Lisa F.
Issues in Educational Research, v24 n1 p21-40 2014
This study compared perceptions of teacher efficacy beliefs and concerns about teaching in pre-service teacher cohorts from New Zealand, Malaysia, and England. Participants were primary pre-service teachers from Malaysia (n = 53), New Zealand (n = 100), and England (n = 119), who completed the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy (long form) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Concerns About Teaching Scale (Smith, Corkery, Buckley & Calvert, 2012) at the beginning of the second year of their teaching programs. Eight focus groups (n = 4 to 8 each) were conducted to further explore the issues. Results indicated that both culture and context are important in regard to pre-service teachers' concerns about teaching and their teacher efficacy beliefs. Differences by nation were most evident in the comparatively low efficacy beliefs reported by the Malaysian pre-service teachers, who also expressed concerns about teaching class sizes of 50 primary students, having subject-based rather than class-based contact with students, and dealing with high parental expectations of student success. Results are discussed in terms of practical applications when preparing pre-service teachers from the cultural contexts represented by the participants.
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Self Efficacy, Foreign Countries, Preservice Teacher Education, Student Attitudes, Elementary School Teachers, Cross Cultural Studies, Focus Groups, Class Size, Parent Aspiration, Academic Achievement, Cultural Context, Questionnaires, Factor Analysis
Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. 5/202 Coode Street, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia. e-mail: editor@iier.org.au; Web site: http://www.waier.org.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia; New Zealand; United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A