SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS OF JUNIOR SECONDARY ENGLISH TEACHERS IN YOGYAKARTA PROVINCE OF INDONESIA

Abstrak / Ringkasan

Abstract Over the last three decades teachers’ self-efficacy has received significant attention with the mainstream literature considering positive self-efficacy an important aspect of teachers’ professional lives. Self-efficacy has been found to influence the level of teacher enthusiasm, commitment, level of planning and organization, persistence, resilience in dealing with problems, and willingness to experiment with new methods. However, recent research has suggested that positive self-efficacy could be an obstacle to teacher development with efficacy doubt having the potential to contribute to the improvement in teacher quality. The present research investigates the efficacy and work engagement of junior secondary English teachers in Yogyakarta province of Indonesia (N = 152), in a context where the teaching profession, although afforded high social status, does not enjoy significant financial returns and academic recognition. The study also investigates the impact of demographic factors like gender, age, educational background, teaching experience and teacher status, and the context of tasks including the school types and the districts where the teachers teach, so as to examine the effects of a specialist professional development program. The present research was conducted using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using three sub-scales from the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) and two subscales designed to measure participants’ efficacy for English and curriculum implementation. Qualitative data were collected using an interview protocol and classroom observation schedule. Data from the survey were analysed using the descriptive analysis and the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Repeated measures were used to examine the effects of training on the participants’ self-efficacy. Qualitative data were analysed Using NVivo 7. Findings suggest that although teacher efficacy was not very high (M = 4.68: SD = 1.45), for these teachers their level of efficacy was contextually optimal., The participants were not so confident that they were not ready or willing to exert significant effort in improving themselves and their teaching performance. Findings also show that regardless of the low financial returns and academic recognition, these teachers reported high levels of work engagement. In addition, findings indicate that a significant unexpected outcome of the professional training program was the opportunity it provided for teacher participants to informally engage in professional conversations and to communicate with their colleagues.

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