The Role of Teacher Education in the Development of First-Year Teachers’ Pedagogy and Self-Efficacy for Instructional Practices and Technology Integration

Abstract

This multiple-article dissertation explores how teacher candidates enrolled in a post-baccalaureate teacher education and Master of Education program perform during their first year in the classroom in the areas of: (a) self-efficacy for general teaching practices; (b) teacher and student behaviors and interactions and characteristics of the overall classroom environment; and (c) self-efficacy and pedagogy for integrating technology into teaching and learning. The use of multiple classroom observation instruments made it possible to develop a multidimensional picture of the classroom environment, including teacher and student behaviors and interactions and technology availability and use, while the longitudinal surveys provided insight into the effects of time and experience on the teachers’ beliefs in their own ability to be successful. Through the examination of this observation and survey data, patterns in participants’ teaching practices as well as their levels of confidence emerged as their classroom teaching experience increased across the school year.

These studies have important implications for the field of teacher education. Not only should teacher preparation programs provide candidates with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective teachers, but also, they ought to foster high self-efficacy for being successful in the classroom, leading to greater resilience and dedication to the teaching field. This research is an early step toward determining ways for teacher educators to more concretely examine the link between self-efficacy, instructional practice, and teacher effectiveness and career longevity. Perhaps by developing methods for correlating findings from the observation and self-efficacy survey protocols with student achievement data, the connections between these important variables will become more concrete and readily able to be evaluated. The findings of these types of analyses can further inform teacher education programs as they make decisions regarding their structure and foci.