Teacher Efficacy and Teacher Professional Learning: Implications for School Leaders

Abstract

This study examines teachers’ professional development experiences through the lenses of personal teaching efficacy and professional learning. This qualitative study examined the professional development experiences of teachers with either high or low senses of personal teaching efficacy. The study found that the level of personal teaching efficacy influences how and in what ways individual teachers experience professional development. The findings provide support for approaches to professional development that address individual needs. Also discussed are implications for school leaders and others charged with establishing professional learning environments that enhance teachers’ efficacy beliefs.

Theories of professional learning underscore the importance of understanding how various individual characteristics such as career stage, level of expertise, and professional field influence professional learning. While empirical studies in these areas exist in fields such as medicine, law and business, relatively few studies focus on teacher perspectives on professional development (Cervero, 1988). As Cervero (1988) discusses, the type and quality of professional learning that occurs in practice depends, in part, on individual characteristics, including efficacy.

Understanding how teachers experience professional learning is vital to create valuable (and valued) professional learning experiences. Few studies have examined this phenomenon in depth. Those that have, typically group teachers by career stage or content area. This study began to map teacher learning experiences according personal teaching efficacy and provided insight for future and practicing school leaders into the nature of teacher professional learning—a phenomenon that encompasses formal and informal learning, and is experienced differently by individual teachers. By understanding the role of characteristics such as personal teaching efficacy on professional learning, school leaders have more reason to promote professional learning opportunities that address teachers’ diverse needs.