Assessment of Supervisors’ Self-Efficacy in Teaching Practice and How Beliefs Influence Feedback to Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

The present study explores supervisors’ self-efficacy as “a future-oriented belief about the level of competence” a supervisor can master in Block Teaching Practice (BTP). A key focus was to examine self-efficacy beliefs that influence supervisors’ thought patterns and emotions regarding the ability to provide effective supervision and “performance feedback” to student teachers. The overarching question of the study is: Does supervisors’ feedback in BTP influence classroom instruction? A review of the relevant literature shows that few studies have examined these issues in Tanzania, the East Africa region, or indeed Africa in general. Few studies exist that explicitly explore self-efficacy in supervision of student teachers’ practices. Since student teachers rely on supervisors for constructive feedback, this study is important and critical for the movement to improve supervision confidence in giving constructive feedback and an important element toward enhancing the competence of teacher trainees. Hence the need for the present study. A questionnaire was sent to supervisors as the primary instrument for data collection to determine the extent to which supervisors perceived their capacity to influence student performance. The findings indicate that, overall, supervisors’ perceived self-efficacy was high, and this group was very much aware of the tasks involved in supervision. The study also revealed challenges supervisors face in their work and laid the foundation for further analysis of perceived self-efficacy in supervision.

Keywords: self-efficacy, supervisors, block teaching practice, pre-service teacher