Lifelong learning and teachers’ self-effectiviness

Abstract

Effective teachers should believe in his or her capability to strongly influence students’ performance and learning methods, even among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated (Guskey and Passaro, 1994). Self-efficacy enhances motivation, affects the amount of effort and persistence that a person devotes to a task and, on workplace environment, improves job satisfaction. By examining the relationship between selfefficacy and the continuous teacher’s training, this paper’s overall aim is to demonstrate how attending training courses, post-graduate diplomas or master’s degrees helps to increase teachers’ sense of efficacy. Moreover, the impact of precariousness on self-efficacy will be analyzed going through the variables influencing teachers’ perceived self-efficacy.
This research is based on 225 Italian teachers, who filled out an online research protocol which includes the following measurement scales: School Self-Efficacy Scale (Borgogni, Petitta, Steca, 2001), School Perceived Collective Efficacy Scale (Borgogni, Petitta, Steca, 2001), Schwarzer Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale in its Italian adaptation by Lucio Sibilia, Ralf Schwarzer and Matthias Jerusalem (1995), Job Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by Weiss et al. (1967) adapted and validated in Italian by Di Nuovo and Alba (1990), Survey of Perceived Organizational Support of Eisenberg et al. (1986) adapted and validated in Italian by Battistelli and Mariani in 2011, Organizational Commitment and Employee Engagement Scale by Barbaranelli and Fida (2004).
Results show that teachers who have attended training courses and masters during the last three years, have obtained significantly higher scores on School Self-Efficacy Scale than teachers who have not attended such courses; furthermore, school’s self-efficacy level is considerably higher among tenured teachers than in those who have fixed-term contracts. Moreover, a linear regression analyses reveals that school collective efficacy, generalized self-efficacy and employee engagement are all significant predictors of self-efficacy in school settings. In conclusion, since self-efficacy is also affected by collective efficacy, it is found necessary to focus the learning environment on collaborative and cooperative learning strategies that enhance the sense of belonging, organizational identification, internal and external communication.