Self-Efficacy Among Teachers Research Paper Example

Introduction

For the past 5 decades, scholars have utilized Albert Bandura’s 1977 publication, “Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change” with the increasing exiting of special education teachers from the profession. When “Albert Bandura Self Efficacy Special Education Teachers” is searched in Google Scholar, 23,400 publications match the query. When the search is refined to the “Everything” option, 1,140 results match. In 1977, Albert Bandura hypothesized that the expectations of an individual’s self-efficacy determines individual behavior--such as effort, stamina, and resilience when challenged with obstacles and stressful scenarios (Bandura, 1977). Since its introduction, teacher self-efficacy has been researched by scholars. Bandura defined self-efficacy as an individual’s belief regarding their abilities to succeed within their personal and professional endeavours  (Bandura, 1994). 

These beliefs influence how the individual feels, thinks, and motivate themselves to behave in their environment  (Bandura, 1994). Literature from the past 5 decades argue that Bandura’s Efficacy Expectations--Performance Accomplishments, Vicarious Experience, Verbal Persuasion, and Emotional Arousal-- are either severely lacking or non-existent in a special education classroom (Bandura, 1994). This literature review examines the factors that lead to the diminishment of self-efficacy among special education teachers--which ultimately leads to their exiting from the profession. 

Performance Accomplishments

In 2001, Gersten, Keating, Yovanoff, and Harniss conducted a study regarding the attrition and retention factors of 887 special educators in three large urban districts. The study concluded by advocating special education teachers to address the design of teaching in a special education position. The study emphasized that many special education teachers transfer to general education positions. In addition to that, the study argues for more support by principals and other support staff in order to curtail the stress of the special education job design (Gersten et al., 2001).

No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001. Gary Kinsey argued that many teachers agreed with the principles of NCLB; however, the flaws of the law were evident. The biggest flaw was the notion of all students achieving the appropriate level of proficiency by the year 2014 (King et al., 2014). Eckes and Swando conducted a study in 2009 to examine what impact NCLB had on students with disabilities. The study concluded that schools failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) mainly because of the students with disabilities subgroup. Under NCLB, students with disabilities were expected to maintain the same proficiency level as general education students. This ultimately led to a rapid burn out rate among special education teachers (Eckes & Swando, 2009).

Eckes and Swando investigated three departments of education to conclude that special education was often the cause of schools failing to meet the AYP stipulation of NCLB. They argued that special education students typically start with a lower average test score than their general education peers (Eckes & Swando, 2009). The pressures for special education teachers to contribute to the closing of the achievement gap when their students are already at a disadvantage, contributes to the decline in self-efficacy (Husband & Hunt, 2015). In addition to that, Combee  argued that the growing consensus among general and special education teachers was the increasing demands of NCLB that made it more difficult for students to meet AYP. Teachers were concerned that since the modified version of the STARR test was no longer available that students with disabilities will inevitably fail the test. Failure of this test is strictly due to the fact that the content is typically higher than a majority of students with disabilities cognitive abilities (Gonzales, 2016)

Verbal Persuasion

Eckes and Swando also argued that other researchers emphasized the positive effects of NCLB towards special education students from the perspectives of representatives from state and local educational agencies. Arguments in favor of the legislation’s effectiveness included--a greater representation in standards; as well as, opportunities to show what students know through the inclusion in performance assessments (Eckes & Swando, 2009). Brandi Hinnant-Crawford conducted a study of 145 teachers' beliefs regarding their abilities to change educational policy . A commonality among the teachers was the belief that politicians at a state and local level are disconnected, ill-informed, and do not value public school teachers (Hinnant-Crawford, 2016).

Vicarious Experiences

Lee, Patterson, and Vega conducted a study of 154 intern teachers. They presented a statistic that roughly 30 percent of teachers are likely to leave the profession within three years of teaching (Lee et al., 2011). In addition to that, first year special education teachers are two and a half times more likely to leave their job than general education teachers (Lee et al., 2011). It was concluded that these statistics were due to--fiscal realities, limited resources, inadequate preparation programs, and increased workloads (Lee et al., 2011). Their argument was that experience does not contribute to a higher sense of self-efficacy among teachers. Out of 154 new teachers surveyed, 93 of the returned questionnaires were valid for the study (Lee et al., 2011). The majority consensus was that self-efficacy is high at the early stages of their careers. 

Ruble, Usher, and McGrew hypothesized that there is no correlation between the years of teacher experience with the level of self-efficacy. Their findings suggest that this variable is too broad to judge due to a variety of factors. An argument by the authors is the fact that students with disabilities do not exhibit the same impairments as their peers with disabilities (Ruble et al., 2011). In addition to that, the wide gap between research and practice plays a major factor (Ruble et al., 2011). For example, the number of autism diagnoses consistently increased; however, the translational sources to serve these students significantly lagged behind the demand. Ruble, Usher, and McGrew concluded by stating that throughout the country, there are a plethora of teacher preparation services (Ruble et al., 2011). The services are not proportional to the location of the services; however, they are proportional to the amount of resources available for a specific school system (Ruble et al., 2011).

Emotional Arousal

In 2014, Brunsting, Sreckovic, and Lane applied Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model as a blueprint to review 23 studies that included a quantitative measure of burnout among special education teachers (Brunsting et al., 2014). Factors including--teacher experience, student disability, role conflict, role ambiguity, and administrative support were major contributors towards special education teacher burnout (Brunsting et al., 2014). These factors diminished the aspects of teacher attrition, teacher health, and student outcomes . This article concluded that it is essential for researchers to provide a better understanding regarding burnouts; as well as, interventions to curtail the situations that lead to that burnout (Brunsting et al., 2014).

Combee researched the concept of administrative support among special education teachers from K to 12th grade. The results supported the claim that special education participants in the study that valued administrative support had a higher sense of self-efficacy. The higher the self-efficacy, the more teachers invested into student engagement, instruction practices, and classroom management. Emotional support from administration for self-efficacy is effective and essential towards the well-being of special education teachers in their field  (Combee, 2014).

Sheman Reaves and Jeffry Cozzens published a literature review titled “Teacher Perceptions of Climate, Motivation, and Self-Efficacy: Is There Really a Connection.” Reaves and Cozznes investigated which of the 4 self-efficacy elements had the greatest impact on teachers to succeed at their job. The study concluded that the most effective element was the element of emotional arousal  (Reaves & Cozzens, 2018). A safe and supportive school climate motivates self-efficacy. In addition to that, processing clear expectations and parameters from their administrators has the greatest influence towards the level of motivation for a special education teacher  (Reaves & Cozzens, 2018). Having administrators monitor their teaching behavior has the greatest impact on self-efficacy  (Reaves & Cozzens, 2018).

Conclusion:

Throughout the past 5 decades, an increased emphasis has been focused on the research and approaches that impact the self-efficacy rates of special education teachers. Research has focused on Albert Banruda’s Efficacy Expectations--Performance Accomplishments, Vicarious Experience, Verbal Persuasion, and Emotional Arousal. Scholars have conducted investigative research to narrow the gaps in literature. In addition to that, empirical research has been conducted with the intention of concluding necessary actions that legislators and administrators need to enforce to preserve and protect the self-efficacy rates of their special education teachers. It is fundamentally agreed upon by scholars that the solution to the lack of self-efficacy is an issue that is attainable; however, action needs to be taken for it to be a reality.