Abstract
This study aimed to examine (1) the psychometric properties of The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) in early childhood (EC) preservice (N = 202) and in-service (N = 182) teachers, and (2) the effect of teaching experience on efficacy beliefs. Findings indicated that EC teachers’ efficacy beliefs were best represented by a bifactor model (i.e., one general and three specific factors); teachers generally perceived their capabilities in teaching at a more general level rather than specific to different classroom functions. Teaching experience had a significant effect on efficacy beliefs for preservice but not for in-service teachers. This study fills a gap in our understanding of EC teachers’ sense of efficacy by providing empirical evidence on the structure of efficacy beliefs and the effect of teaching experience on efficacy beliefs in preservice and in-service EC teachers. In this study, a new efficacy factor named Responsive Teaching emerged, capturing an element of in-service EC teachers’ perceptions of their capabilities that may be specific to the EC setting. Findings regarding the effects of experience on preservice EC teachers’ sense of efficacy may provide guidance on targeted instruction to increase sense of efficacy.
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The data used in this study are available on request.
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Funding
The study from which the Singapore data were obtained was funded by the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Education Research Funding Programme [Grant number OER 09/14 RB) and administered by the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Singapore MOE or NIE. There was no funding associated with the collection of the Australian data.
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WTC: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing NW: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing RB: Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing ELN: Conceptualization, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing.
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Chan, W.T., Waschl, N., Bull, R. et al. Does Experience Matter? Measuring Self-efficacy in Preservice and In-service Early Childhood Educators Using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale. Asia-Pacific Edu Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-023-00790-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-023-00790-6