A comparative study of teaching efficacy in pre-service and in-service teachers in Korean early childhood education and care (ECEC)

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between pre-service and in-service teachers in terms of their levels of teaching efficacy and teaching professionalism. In addition, the patterns in predictors of teachers’ teaching efficacy were compared between the two subgroups of this study. Five hundred and seventy-three teachers completed self-administered questionnaires. The in-service teachers were found to have higher efficacy than their counterparts in only one of the six subscales of teaching efficacy, the subscale “Teaching Strategies”. Additionally, the college major specialisation and some domains of professionalism were found to be predictive to both groups. Along with the main results of this study, implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords:

• in-service and pre-service early childhood education and care teachers
• teacher professionalism
• teaching efficacy

Additional information

Notes on contributors

SoJung Seo

SoJung Seo is an associate professor at Kyung Hee University. Her research interests span the areas of early childhood education and care, teacher efficacy, and parenting.

HyukJun Moon

HyukJun Moon is a professor at The Catholic University of Korea. His research interests are early childhood education and care, child development, parenting, and teacher efficacy.