Teacher effectiveness through self-efficacy, collaboration and principal leadership

Abstract

Purpose Teacher effectiveness has been a matter of concern not only for the parents and students but also for the policy makers, researchers, and educationists. Drawing from the “self-efficacy” theory (Bandura, 1977), the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teacher effectiveness. In addition, it explores the role of collaboration among teachers and principal leadership in explaining the above relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 575 secondary school teachers and 6,020 students representing grade 6-12th from 25 privately owned schools in India. Teacher self-efficacy, collaboration and principal leadership were reported by the teachers whereas effectiveness of each teacher was captured from around ten students each who were taught by the corresponding teacher. Data were analyzed using SEM-PLS. Findings Results confirmed a positive association between teacher self-efficacy and the three dimensions of teacher effectiveness, namely, teacher’s delivery of course information, teacher’s role in facilitating teacher-student interactions, and teacher’s role in regulating students’ learning. Results also confirmed that both collaboration and principal leadership are positively related to teacher self-efficacy. Originality/value The results of the study indicate that schools need to focus on enhancing self-efficacy of their teachers and give importance to teacher collaboration and principal leadership in order to improve their effectiveness in terms of delivery of instruction, teacher-student interactions, and regulating student learning.

Principals’ Instructional Leadership towards Teachers' Self-Efficacy

“…This finding also supported the views on qualified principals who focus on instructional leadership practices under challenging contextual conditions (28). The relationship between the principals' instructional leadership practices and the teachers' self-efficacy in both schools was found to be positive and strong, thus confirming previous studies done by (9,10,13,16,18). Although this was the case, there was no significant difference in scores found for the principals' instructional leadership among the two schools.…”

“…The teachers' self-efficacy can strongly predict instructional behaviors such as focused instruction, but is less predictive of behaviors such as standard contemporary practice and flexible grouping practice (7). Previous studies have reported that principals' instructional leadership have a significantly positive effect on teachers' selfefficacy (9,10,(16)(17)(18). (8) concluded that a principal who emphasizes more on instructional practice rather than administrative work, will make a difference in a teacher's ability to complete planned instructional goals.…”

The impact of support on growth in teacher-efficacy: a cross-cultural study

“…For a teacher in a school, competence support could be that their colleagues or the principals help them do a good job in the classroom, for example, by suggesting good school assignments. In fact, support for competence has been associated with self-efficacy in a study by Diseth et al (2012) and more recently principal leadership and leadership style have both been positively related to and predictor of teacher self-efficacy (Fackler and Malmberg, 2016;Sehgal et al, 2017). Participation in a community of practice (i.e.…”

Influence of school leadership style on effective teaching and teacher-student interaction

“…Formal leaders convey normative influence on general teaching practices such as setting standards, selecting materials, and assessing students (Mustafa & Lines, 2014;Christensen, 2012;Sun, 2011). The literacy leaders and principal-teacher interactions played a significant role in supporting teachers and providing student engagement (Fletcher et al, 2012;Price, 2015;Sehgal et al, 2017). Therefore, it is concluded that there is a positive relationship between school leadership style and effective teaching.…”