Principal self-efficacy and school climate as antecedents of collective teacher efficacy

ABSTRACT

The importance of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) has been increasingly emphasised, but few studies have focused on how it can be enhanced. Since CTE is assumed to be related to factors that differ between schools, the belief-shaping sources of CTE could be related to principals’ beliefs of their efficacy. Moreover, a school climate that centralises teachers’ attempts to improve student learning could enhance CTE. This paper examines a proposed analytical model that links principal self-efficacy (PSE) to CTE, as mediated by the school climate. The model is tested via a multilevel analysis with data from 70 Finnish schools and 767 educators. The analysis revealed that PSE is partially and indirectly related to CTE via the school climate at the school level. Based on these results, theoretical and practical implications for future research and teaching development efforts are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Principal self-efficacy
• school climate
• collective teacher efficacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture under Grant number 35/529/2012.

Notes on contributors

Takumi Yada

Takumi Yada (PhD, education) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä. His research topics are shared leadership, prosociality, teacher efficacy, and collaboration among educational professionals. He is currently involved in many international and national (Finnish and Japanese) research projects on how teachers collaborate with each other in multidisciplinary education.

Hannu Savolainen

Hannu Savolainen (PhD, education) is a professor in special education in the School of Educational Sciences and Psychology at the University of Eastern Finland, and an extraordinary professor in the Optentia research unit in North-West University, South Africa. His major research interests are school wide positive behaviour supports interventions and international comparative education research especially on teachers' attitudes and their self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education.