Autonomy Support and Self – Efficacy Perceptions of Primary School Teachers

Yıl 2011, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 1, 99 - 116, 01.02.2011

Hülya Güvenç

Öz

Background. Bandura defines perceived self-efficacy as “beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura, 1986, p. 391). Teachers' self-efficacy has been related to teachers' classroom behaviors and student outcomes such as achievement (Gibson and Dembo, 1984; Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, 2001). Also teachers' self-efficacy perceptions could be related to their autonomy support in the classroom. Self determination theory suggests that autonomy is one of the basic psychological needs of students (Deci and Ryan, 1987). Students can perceive their teachers' autonomy supportive behaviors and that perceptions have been related to students' engagement and learning outcomes (Assor, Kaplan and Roth, 2002). Purpose. The purpose of this study is to describe the autonomy support and self-efficacy perceptions of primary school teacher's and to examine the relationships between autonomy support and self-efficacy perceptions. Method. Survey method was used for this study. The data for this study were gathered from 126 primary school teachers, 71 of whom were male and 55 were female. The research data were collected by Teacher Autonomy Support Scale and Turkish version of the long form of “Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale” originally developed by Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy (2001). Teacher Autonomy Support Scale is a likert type, 16 item scale which was developed by the author. Data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0. Arithmetic means and standard deviations of the groups were calculated, independent samples t-test and variance analysis were used to analyze the mean differences between groups. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to determine relationships between teachers' autonomy support and their self-efficacy. Results and discussion. The findings have discerned that teachers' autonomy support is at medium level and autonomy support doesn't vary in terms of teachers' experience. According to Reeve (2009), teachers adopt a controlling motivating style because of cultural values. The controlling teachers were perceived more competent than autonomy supportive teachers by parents and administrators (Reeve, 2009). Cai et al. (2002) also showed that teachers' autonomy supportive behaviors are related to their personal characteristics. Also results indicated that teachers' self-efficacy is positive in general. The primary teachers have perceived themselves less efficient at student engagement dimension. This result is supported by Gençtürk and Memiş's (2010) study which was conducted on elementary teachers, and Güvenç's (2010) study which was conducted on pre-service teachers. Teachers' experience is a remarkable factor for teachers' self-efficacy perceptions. Ghaith & Yaghi, (1997) reported some decline in teachers` sense of efficacy during teachers' professional life. Teachers have felt that their effects on students' learning, has been limited by the more years of experience. They recognize that other factors such as parents' engagement effects learners more than themselves (Guskey and Passero, 1994). That explains teachers' low self-efficacy at student engagement dimension. And also the results indicate that, there is positive significant relationship between teachers' autonomy support and their self-efficacy for teaching. Teachers, who perceive themselves effective on student engagement and learning outcomes, are supporting autonomy of students. And teachers' autonomy supportive behaviors are effective on students' engagement. So teachers' autonomy supportive behaviors can be accepted as the mediating variable between teachers' self-efficacy and student engagement. In order to increase student engagement, teachers should be trained about autonomy supportive behaviors and informed about outcomes. Further research, modeling relations between teachers' efficacy, teachers' autonomy support and students' engagement and determine school culture on those relations, is needed to make generalizations.

Anahtar Kelimeler

teachers’ self-efficacy , autonomy support perception , occupational self-efficacy

Sınıf Öğretmenlerinin Özerklik Destekleri ve Mesleki Özyeterlik Algıları

Öz

Bu araştırmanın amacı sınıf öğretmenlerinin özerklik destekleriyle mesleki özyeterlik algılarının belirlenmesi ve özerklik destekleri ile özyeterlik algıları arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir. Araştırma Çanakkale il merkezinde 126 sınıf öğretmeninin katılımıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada veri toplama amacıyla “Öğretmen Özerklik Desteği” ve “Öğretmen Mesleki Özyeterlik Algısı” ölçekleri kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde t-testi, tekyönlü varyans analizi ve pearson korelasyon katsayısı kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda sınıf öğretmenlerinin özerklik desteklerinin orta düzeyde olduğu, özerklik desteğinin kıdeme göre değişmediği, mesleki özyeterlik algılarının olumlu olduğu ve kıdeme göre değiştiği belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca sınıf öğretmenlerinin özerklik desteği ile mesleki özyeterlik algıları arasında pozitif yönde orta düzeyde ilişki olduğu belirlenmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

öğretmen özyeterlik algısı , özerklik desteği , mesleki özyeterlik

Kaynakça

• Ashton, P., & Webb, R. (1986). Making a difference:Teachers’ sense of efficacy and student achievement. New York: Longman.
• Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: Autonomy-enhancing and suppressing teaching behaviors predicting students’ engagement in schoolwork. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 27, 261–278.
• Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall.
• Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.
• Benware, C., & Deci, E. (1984). Quality of learning with an active versus passive motivational set. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 755–765.
• Black, A., & Deci, E. (2000). The effects of instructors’ autonomy support and students’ autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A selfdetermination theory perspective. Science Education, 84, 740–756.
• Cai, Y., Reeve, J., & Robinson, D. T. (2002). Home schooling and teaching style: Comparing the motivating styles of home school and public school teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 372–380.
• Çapa, Y. Çakıroğlu, J. Sarıkaya, H. (2005). Öğretmen özyeterlik ölçeği Türkçe uyarlamasının geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Eğitim ve Bilim. 30 (137), 74– 81.
• Deci, E., Schwartz, A., Sheinman, L., & Ryan, R. (1981). An instrument to assess adults’ orientations toward control versus autonomy with children: Reflections on intrinsic motivation and perceived competence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 642–650.
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037.
• Demir, K. (2008). Transformational leadership and collective efficacy: The moderating roles of collaborative culture and teachers’ self-efficacy. Eğitim Araştırmaları, 33, 93-112.
• Filak, V. F. & Sheldon, K. M. (2008). Teacher support, student motivation, student need satisfaction, and college teacher course evaluations: Testing a sequential path model. Educational Psychology,. 28, (6), 711–724.
• Gençtürk, A. ve Memiş, A. (2010). İlköğretim okulu öğretmenlerinin öz-yeterlik algıları ve iş doyumlarının demografik faktörler açısından incelenmesi. İlköğretim Online, 9 (3), 1037-1054. http://ilkogretimonline.org.tr/vol9say3/v9s3m17.pdf adresinden 06.10.2010 tarihinde alınmıştır.
• Ghaith, G. & Yaghi, H. (1997). Relationships among experience, teacher efficacy, and attitude toward the implementation of instructional innovation. Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, (4), 451-458.
• Gibson, S. & Dembo, M. H. (1984). Teacher efficacy: A construct validation, Journal of Educational Psychology, 76 (4), 569–582.
• Grolnick, W., & Ryan, R. (1987). Autonomy in children’s learning: An experimental and individual difference investigation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 977–1077.
• Guskey, T. R., & Passaro, P. D. (1994). Teacher efficacy: A study of construct dimensions. American Educational Research Journal, 31, (3), 627-643.
• Güvenç, H. (2010). Öğretmen adayı ö ğrencilerin mesleki özyeterlik algıları ile öğrenci başarısı sorumluluk algıları, 19. Ulusal Eğitim Bilimleri Kurultayı 1618 Eylül 2010. Lefkoşa.
• Köklü, N., Büyüköztürk, Ş., ve Bökeoğlu, Ö. Ç. (2006). Sosyal bilimler için istatistik. Ankara: Pegem Akademi Yayıncılık.
• Leroy, N., Bressoux, P., Sarrazin, P., & Trouilloud, D. (2007). Impact of teachers’ implicit theories and perceived pressures on the establishment of an autonomy supportive climate. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 22, 529-545.
• McLachlan, S., & Hagger, M. S., (2010). Effects of an autonomy-supportive intervention on tutor behaviors in a higher education context, Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(5), 1204-1210.
• Mulholland J., & Wallace J. (2001). Teacher induction and elementary science teaching: Enhancing self-efficacy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(2), 243-261.
• Reeve, J., Bolt, E., & Cai, Y. (1999). Autonomy-supportive teachers: How they teach and motivate students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 537–548.
• Reeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, S., & Barch, J. (2004). Enhancing high school students' engagement by increasing their teachers' autonomy support. Motivation and Emotion, 28, 147-169.
• Reeve, J.(2009). Why teachers adopt a controlling motivating style toward students and how they can become more autonomy supportive. Educational Psychologist, 44 (3), 159–175
• Schunk, D. H. (1985). Participation on goal setting: Effects on self-efficacy and skills of learning disabled children. Journal of Special Education, 19, 307-317.
• Sierens, E., Vansteenkiste, M., Goossens, L., Soenens, B., & Dochy, F. (2009). The interactive effect of perceived teacher autonomy–support and structure in the prediction of self-regulated learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 57–68.
• Stefanou, C. R., K. C. Perencevich, M. DiCintio, & J. C. Turner, (2004). Supporting autonomy in the classroom: Ways teachers encourage student decision making and ownership. Educational Psychologist, 39(2), 97-110.
• Şimşek, Ö.F. (2007). Yapısal eşitlik modellemesine giriş - temel ilkeler ve Lisrel uygulamaları. Ankara: Ekinoks Yayıncılık.
• Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 783-805.