This study examined preservice science teachers&rsquo / conceptions about teaching and learning, self-efficacy beliefs, learning approaches and images of themselves as a science teachers. The study was also interested in examining the possible relationships among preservice science teachers&rsquo / conceptions about teaching and learning, learning approaches and self-efficacy beliefs. The study was carried out during 2011-2012 spring semester at three different public universities in Ankara. A total of 208 senior preservice science teachers who were volunteers involved. Data were collected through Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist, Teaching and Learning Conceptions Questionnaire, Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument, and The Learning Approach Questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive statistics, paired-sample t-test and canonical correlation analysis. Paired-sample t-test analyses results showed that preservice science teachers prefer constructivist conception more than traditional conception / and meaningful learning approaches more than rote learning approaches. Besides, preservice science teachers were also found to have generally high sense of self-efficacy beliefs in science teaching. Moreover, the results of the DASTT-C showed that preservice science teachers&rsquo / perspectives of science teaching conception is 42.7% student-centered, 7.0% teacher-centered and 50.3% neither student-centered nor teacher-centered. Furthermore, the canonical correlation analysis revealed that the first canonical variate demonstrated that preservice science teachers&rsquo / constructivist conception and traditional conception are associated with their self-efficacy beliefs and learning approaches.

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The main purpose of the study was to investigate pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / personal efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies about using concrete models in teaching mathematics. Data were collected from the pre-service teachers in the middle of the spring semester of 2008-2009. Pre-service teachers were junior students enrolled in elementary mathematics teaching program at a public university. Six instructional sessions based on using concrete models in teaching mathematics were carried out during a three week period. In this study, the researcher was also the teacher of the instruction at the same time. A survey on pre-service mathematics teachers&rsquo / efficacy beliefs about using concrete models was administered to the students before and after the instruction to evaluate the contribution of the instruction on pre-service teachers&rsquo / efficacies. After the instruction, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The present study demonstrated that the instruction based on using concrete models had positive contributions on the pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies about using concrete models in teaching mathematics. In addition, results revealed that pre-service elementary mathematics teachers had confidence in themselves about using concrete models both as learners and as teachers. Moreover, they believed that using concrete models in teaching mathematics would have positive consequences in teaching process and students&rsquo / learning. However, the interview data indicated that, pre-service teachers had relatively low personal efficacies and outcome expectancies about classroom management, when the concrete models were involved in the instruction.

The purpose of this study was to explore Turkish kindergarten early career stage teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs towards technology and their technology integration practices in their classrooms by answering: What are self-efficacy beliefs of Turkish kindergarten early career stage teachers towards technology? How do Turkish kindergarten early career teachers integrate technology into their classrooms’ instructions? The study was designed as a qualitative multiple case study and guided by Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory and Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) TPACK conceptual framework. I conducted this study in Istanbul, where is the most crowded and metropolitan city in Turkey. The schools were chosen by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) after the permissions were received from IRB and MoNE, and the participants were assigned by the directors of schools based on research criteria. Participants were chosen purposefully, and there were four female kindergarten teachers in their early career stages, which were identified based on Steffy, Wolfe, Pasch and Enz (2000)’ stages: novice teacher and apprentice teacher, teaching five-year-old students at technologically well-equipped classrooms, and who had a bachelor’s degree in preschool teaching. Data was collected from three sessions of semi-structured interviews and two sessions of observation based on TIM-O. Data was coded and analyzed based on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to make sense teachers’ technology self-efficacy beliefs towards technology and Technology Integration Matrix (TIM)’s to understand their technology practice into classroom instructions.

Teacher self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) are an important attribute of effective teachers. Teacher efficacy refers to a teacher‘s belief in his or her abilities to bring about valued outcomes of engagement and learning among learners, including difficult or unmotivated learners. English Second Language (ESL) reading seems to be a substantial problem in Namibia. This research aimed to explore rural Namibian grade 4-6 teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs regarding the teaching of ESL reading. The research was based on Bandura (1997)‘s well-known four sources of self-efficacy, and the Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2003) engagements to focus on aspects which influence teachers‘ TSE with regard to teaching reading. The researcher formed assumptions from the epistemological premises and followed an interpretive approach. A non-probability sampling method was used to select the eight teachers within the four schools of the nearby circuit. The data were collected qualitatively by means of in-depth interviews in order to gather data from teachers‘ individual experiences about intermediate learners‘ low reading skills and teaching reading. Data were analysed and interpreted using Atlas.ti ™. The purpose of this research was to identify issues regarding rural Namibian teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teaching English Second Language (ESL) reading. The rationale for this study was to identify gaps related to teachers‘ SEBs and to make suggestions to improve teachers SEB‘s. The researcher identified a fifth source, the school environment, as another source that influences teachers‘ SEBs regarding teaching reading. Since the school environment is an additional source of self-efficacy the researcher recommend further research that can establish evidence on how school environment influences SEBs with regard to reading achievements. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Teacher self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) are an important attribute of effective teachers. Teacher efficacy refers to a teacher‘s belief in his or her abilities to bring about valued outcomes of engagement and learning among learners, including difficult or unmotivated learners. English Second Language (ESL) reading seems to be a substantial problem in Namibia. This research aimed to explore rural Namibian grade 4-6 teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs regarding the teaching of ESL reading. The research was based on Bandura (1997)‘s well-known four sources of self-efficacy, and the Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2003) engagements to focus on aspects which influence teachers‘ TSE with regard to teaching reading. The researcher formed assumptions from the epistemological premises and followed an interpretive approach. A non-probability sampling method was used to select the eight teachers within the four schools of the nearby circuit. The data were collected qualitatively by means of in-depth interviews in order to gather data from teachers‘ individual experiences about intermediate learners‘ low reading skills and teaching reading. Data were analysed and interpreted using Atlas.ti ™. The purpose of this research was to identify issues regarding rural Namibian teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teaching English Second Language (ESL) reading. The rationale for this study was to identify gaps related to teachers‘ SEBs and to make suggestions to improve teachers SEB‘s. The researcher identified a fifth source, the school environment, as another source that influences teachers‘ SEBs regarding teaching reading. Since the school environment is an additional source of self-efficacy the researcher recommend further research that can establish evidence on how school environment influences SEBs with regard to reading achievements. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Research on self-efficacy has been a productive field and abundant research has shown that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs influence teachers’ actions and performances and thus affect students’ learning outcomes. However, there is a lack of literature on EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and even less research was set in Chinese EFL contexts. On the one hand, this study was conducted to provide a general picture of the current status of EFL teachers’ perceived English proficiency, self-rated self-efficacy beliefs and self-reported teaching practices in terms of some demographic perspectives; On the other hand, it aimed to explore the correlations among Chinese primary EFL teachers’ perceived English proficiency, self-efficacy beliefs and teaching practices. The quantitative study surveyed 217 in-service primary EFL teachers. The descriptive results showed that: (1) EFL teachers varied in perceived English proficiency in terms of age, years of teaching experience and college major; (2) age and teaching experience did while college major didn’t make a difference for EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs; (3) the surveyed EFL teachers, in general, had a greater preference to communication-oriented language teaching (COLT) than form-oriented language teaching (FOLT). The results from the correlational statistics showed that: (1) perceived English proficiency (PEP), on the whole, had a significant predictive effect on self-efficacy beliefs (SEB). It was striking that among the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) of English language, speaking had the most significant predictive effect on self-efficacy beliefs; (2) EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs (SEB) had a predictive effect on COLT practices whereas not on FOLT practices; (3) The mediation model of showing the causal impacts of PEP (through SEB) on COLT was tested. i.e. Chinese primary EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs played a complete mediating role between perceived English proficiency and communication-oriented language teaching. The findings of the present study added on the compelling evidence that self-efficacy beliefs matter in the realm of primary EFL teaching in China. In light of these findings, implications were generated to primary EFL teacher education and in-service EFL teacher training programs, such as courses related to improving English proficiency, especially speaking skills, should be offered for non-English major EFL teachers; training courses related to improving self-efficacy beliefs, especially on classroom management strategies, and the recommended communicative-oriented language teaching practices should be offered to pre-service and inexperienced in-service EFL teachers.