Investigating b.ed. (hons.) prospective teachers` beliefs about their self-efficacy as a teacher in the context of Balochistan
Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Philosophy in Education
Department
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
Abstract
The major aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of prospective teachers, who are enrolled in 4-year B.Ed degree program, about their self-efficacy as a teacher in the context of Balochistan and to explore that how the 4-years B.Ed. program has shaped prospective teachers self-efficacy and confidence as teacher to enter in the teaching profession. The reason to select B.Ed. (Hons) students is that B.Ed (Hons) is considered comprehensive teacher education program in the context of reforms in Pakistan. Since 2011, two batches of this program have graduated in the province from different universities. However, a little or no knowledge is available on the self-efficacy of this programme’s graduates or current enrolled students in the province. This study is an attempt to explore the perceptions of prospective teachers enrolled in a university about how confident they feel to enter in the teaching field to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at the school level and what factors have contributed to the development of their efficacy beliefs. Aligned with the purpose of the study, case study research design was applied to conduct this study because case study allowed researcher to explore the case from different dimensions. To collect the data, teachers sense of self efficacy scale (TSSE) developed by Megan Tschannen-Moran and Wolfolk Hoy was used. This questionnaire has been selected because this has been used in many researches to gauge the self-efficacy of prospective teachers and has worked effectively to meet the purpose. Along with questionnaire, semi-structured interview was conducted to understand how B.ED (Hons) had shaped prospective teachers’ self-efficacy. Data wereanalyzed sequentially. Initially, quantitative data wereanalyzed using the SPSS software. Later, semi-structured interview data wereanalyzed using thematic analysis. The questionnaire results have revealed that mostly teachers feelefficaciousaboutentering the teaching force. Teachers believe that they can engage students in classroom activities; they are capable to bring the different instructional strategies in the classroom according to the needs of the students; and they can manage the classroom. However, their confidence appearedshaken when different aspects of classroom management were asked. This may be because classroom management skills come with time and the participants are novice. Qualitative data have revealed three key factors that increase the prospective teachers’ self-efficacy during the B.Ed (Hons) programme. Students have reported that the nature and versatility of courses of B.Ed (Hons) programme positively influence self-efficacy; classroom activities aided in the development of self-efficacy and rich practicum activities boost the prospective teachers’ self-efficacy. Briefly, the prospective teachers feel confident to enter the teaching force and B.Ed (Hons) program has contributed in developing the efficacy of prospective teachers. Based on the findings, this study has implications for policy makers to look into experiences of B.Ed (Hons) program and explicitly incorporate the practices that can further boost self-efficacy. Moreover, this study suggests further research studies as this study was limited to one university due to COVID-19 pandemic situation.
Recommended Citation
Bashir, M. (2021). Investigating b.ed. (hons.) prospective teachers` beliefs about their self-efficacy as a teacher in the context of Balochistan (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.