The Relationship Between In-Service Teacher Self-Efficacy and Professional Enhancement in Career Progression

Abstract

Background and Aim: The relationship between the sense of efficacy of in-service teachers and their professional improvement is one of the most important issues in teacher professional development, especially in the state elementary school. Sustained professional learning and career advancement have been greatly correlated with teacher efficacy. Based on the Theory of Social Cognitive and Experiential Learning theories developed by Bandura, this research paper investigated the correlation between sense of efficacy in in-service teachers regarding their student engagement, classroom management, and instructional strategies, and how they relate to professional improvement based on the variables of knowledge acquisition and skills development, and how they relate to the selected socio-demographic variables.

Materials and Methods: The research design used was a descriptive-correlational research design that included a sample size of 30 in-service teachers (n = 30) in the elementary schools in Tubod, Lanao del Norte. A structured survey questionnaire was used as a method of data collection. Since the data were in the ordinal form due to the Likert scale, the strength and direction of the associations between sense of efficacy and professional enhancement were determined using Spearman's rho correlation coefficient (rs). Chi-square tests and descriptive statistics were used to analyze group differences according to career progression.

Results: The findings showed that the in-service teachers had a very high level of sense of efficacy in all dimensions (overall M = 3.77, SD = 0.214), and a very high level of professional improvement in knowledge acquisition and skill development (overall M = 3.78, SD = 0.204). There was a significant and statistically significant correlation between the sense of efficacy and the professional enhancement of the teachers (rs = 0.785, p < 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in teachers' professional improvement when the groups of teachers were based on career progression (2 = 7.60, p = 0.107).

Conclusion: The results show that in-service teachers who give more positive reports on teaching efficacy equally make more positive reports on professional development activities, which highlights the strong relationship between teaching efficacy beliefs and professional development. This association adds useful empirical evidence to the existing theories on teacher learning by showing how self-efficacy is correlated with long-term engagement of knowledge acquisition and skill development in a public school-based early childhood setting. It is based on this that the study informs the planning of professional development by emphasizing the significance of efficacy-sensitive support structures to the in-service teachers. The proposed GROW program is introduced as a research-based framework to be piloted and discussed in future policy, whose implementation would help adjust the professional learning opportunities to the efficacy profiles and career stages of teachers to help them improve the instructional performance and workforce growth continuously.