Insights from meta-analytical and multi-level modeling research. Psychological Research Colloquium

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE), defined as teachers’ belief in their own job-specific capabilities, is a prom[1]inent construct in teacher research as it has been connected with beneficial outcomes for students and teachers (Klassen & Tze, 2014; Zee & Koomen, 2016). Meta-analyses and reviews have, for example, revealed that teachers with higher levels of self-efficacy report higher levels of job satisfaction and commitment and fewer burnout symptoms (Aloe et al., 2014; Chesnut & Burley, 2015; Zee & Koomen, 2016). Their students reach higher levels of achievement (Kim & Seo, 2018) and show more engagement in the classrooms (Zee & Koomen, 2020). However, while the beneficial outcomes of a high level of TSE are well-researched, questions about essential characteristics of this psychological construct, especially its malleability, and context-specificity, are still unclear. This talk will present the results from two studies evaluating (1) if and how TSE can be promoted in interventions and (2) how variable TSE is within teachers across different classes (= contexts). The first study is a meta-analysis summarizing the effects of 115 intervention studies on TSE (N = 11,526 pre-service and inservice teachers). We did not only evaluate the overall effect of interventions in this meta-analysis, but also analyzed (1a) whether interventions are equally effective for pre- and in-service teachers and (1b) whether intervention features such as the addressed sources of self-efficacy moderate the intervention effects. In the second study, secondary school teachers indicated their class-specific self-efficacy in three different classes (n = 74). After analyzing how much TSE varies within teachers across classes, we furthermore investigated (2a) to what extent classroom composition factors (n = 1,326 students) can predict the level of TSE. Following the presentation of our results, I am eager to discuss with you the potential implications of these findings for our understanding of TSE and future research designs investigating TSE.