Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Students' Ratings of Teaching Quality: A Quantitative Survey in Inclusive Classes

• In Event: Addressing Students' Special Educational Needs When Implementing Inclusive Education

Abstract

Inclusive education has become more and more realized all over Europe (Schwab, 2019). However, inclusion is not only about placing students with special educational needs in the mainstream classes, but it requires also that teachers change their practices that are supportive of inclusion. According to the literature, e.g. teaching practices which addresses the individual students’ needs (e.g. differentiation, personalization) are part of inclusive teaching practices (e.g. Loreman, 2014). Following the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) it can be assumed that teachers need belief that they can address students’ needs to adapt their teaching practices to students’ needs. Knauder and Koschmieder (2019) showed that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs are a predictor for individualized teaching. Similar, de Neve, et al. (2015) as well as Holzberger, et al. (2013) found an association between teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and teachers’ teaching quality. Most of the studies might fall short of providing strong evidence on quality as theinvestigate teaching quality from teachers’ perspective. Schwab, Sharma and Hoffmann (2019) could not found a link with teachers’ self-efficacy and students’ ratings of teaching quality. The lack of empirical evidence for the impact of teachers’ self-efficacy might be because teachers’ self-efficacy on teaching quality might be explained by the fact that teachers’ self-efficacy was rather assessed as a global overall construct. Following the work of Zee, et al. (2016) the concept of self-efficacy might be much more student specific than global. Therefore, the present study aim to link teachers’ student-specific self-efficacy with students’ ratings of teaching quality. In total, 721 students (mean age = 10 – 15 years) and 27 teachers from 42 inclusive classes from Germany participated in the paper-pencil survey. Teacher students-specific self-efficacy was assessed using an adapted version of the (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (Zee et al., 2016). Teachers rated their self-efficacy towards each student in their class on 16 items underlying four subscales of self-efficacy ((1) Instructional Strategies: e.g. ‘I can provide appropriate challenges for this student’; (2) Behaviour Management, 3) Student Engagement, (4) Emotional Support). In addition, students were asked to rate teachers teaching quality based on the same dimensions using the same 16 items in a modified way (e.g. ‘My teacher can provide appropriate challenges for me’). Using confirmatory factor analysis, the four dimensional factor structure of the instrument fitted well the data for both, teachers’ student specific self-efficacy ratings (Chi-square= 205.28; df= 96; RMSEA= .05; CFI= .93; TLI= .92; SRMR= .06) and students’ ratings of teaching quality (Chi-square= 203.08; df= 98; RMSEA= .05; CFI= .94; TLI= .92; SRMR= .04). Also a combined model had good fit (Chi-square= 726.33; df= 434; RMSEA= .04; CFI= .93; TLI= .92; SRMR= .05) and intercorrelations between teacher and student ratings were calculated. Teachers student-specific self-efficacy was linked with students rating of teaching quality. Correlations were ranging between r= .15 and r = .40. Additional regression model showed that teachers’ student-specific self-efficacy predicted students’ rating of their academic self-concept, but not students’ school-well-being or students relations with their teachers.

Authors

• Susanne Schwab, University of Vienna

• Katharina Lindner, University of Vienna

• Hannu Savolainen, University of Jyväskylä