چکیده:
The importance of professional development programs in enhancing teacher self-efficacy has attracted the attention of researchers in the realm of teacher education for two decades. However, the role of university programs and their curriculum in developing teachers’ self-efficacy has not been given adequate attention, specifically in educating EFL teachers. This study investigated the impact of MA TEFL curriculum on student teachers’ self-efficacy. To control the influence of experience, the self-efficacy of experienced students in teaching and novice ones was examined as well. To this end, 277 MA TEFL students from the seven major state universities of Tehran participated in this project. The results indicated that MA TEFL courses did not significantly affect teacher self-efficacy of MA TEFL students. However, a significant difference was found between novice teachers and experienced ones in terms of their self-efficacy and its subcomponents. Also, the findings of the semi-structured interviews revealed unlike the novice ones who were more interested in practicum, the experienced ones were in favor of both theoretical and practical courses. Despite this difference, some similarities were found, specifically in efficacy for classroom management and instructional strategies.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"Indeed, many researchers have tried to investigate variables such as teacher professional development programs that would influence teachers’ self-efficacy, and they have found different results (Anderson & Hirschkorn, 2012; Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009; Hoy & Woolfolk, 1990; Ingvarson, Meiers, & Beavis, 2005; Pendergast, Garvis, & Keogh, 2011; Ross & Bruce, 2007; Woodcock, 2011; Woolfolk Hoy & Burke-Spero, 2005).
In spite of these efforts, there is dearth of studies on the influence of universities’ teacher preparation programs on student teachers’ self- efficacy and the way they affect it (Anderson & Hirschkorn, 2012; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Pedergast et al.
Teachers who have higher level of self-efficacy are willing to use new and more useful instructional strategies and classroom management techniques (Ross, 1994), show more persistence and flexibility in the task of teaching and put more effort in it (Gibson & Demo, 1984; Pajares, 1996), have more commitment to teaching (Woolfolk Hoy & Burke-Spero, 2005; Coladarci, 1992), and affect their students’ achievement (Ross & Bruce, 2007; Tschannen-Moran et al.
Despite these studies, little attention has been paid to the influence of universities’ teacher preparation programs and their courses on student teachers’ self-efficacy (Anderson & Hirschkorn, 2012; Garet et al.
Similar to the previous investigation, in this study experienced teachers with more than four years of teaching experience had higher self-efficacy for classroom management and instructional strategies than novice teachers with three or less than three years of experience, but no differences were observed with respect to student engagement."