Moroccan high school science teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in the context of French medium instruction

Abstract

The relationship between science teachers’ self-efficacy and the language of instruction is a critically under-research issue in education. This study aimed to explore public school science teachers’ self-efficacy with regard to the use of the language of instruction in teaching scientific subjects. Specifically, the present paper attempts to uncover the impact of the recent French medium instruction (FMI) policy on Moroccan teachers’ sense of self-efficacy for teaching science and to examine how demographic variables (age, gender, education and teaching experience) modify or change self-efficacy beliefs. To that end, 151 in-service high school science teachers completed a short self-efficacy Likert scale designed especially for the purposes of the study. The results showed that science teachers have low self-efficacy beliefs with regard to the use of French as a medium of instruction (MoI). Also, while age and teaching experience were found to have a statistically significant correlation with self-efficacy, teachers’ language proficiency did not. The study concludes that MoI can negatively impact teachers’ self-efficacy and that the latter becomes stronger with age and accumulated experience. Moreover, having teachers with good language proficiency does not guarantee high self-efficacy beliefs. The study discusses some implications of these results for educators and educational policymakers.