Supporting self-efficacy development from primary school to the professions: A guide for educators

ABSTRACT

Over the past 2 decades, scholars in various educational contexts have examined Bandura’s theorizing about how self-efficacy develops. Bandura proposed 4 primary informational sources of self-efficacy—enactive experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasions, and physiological and affective states—each of which can be supported in different ways. This article first defines and situates self-efficacy and these sources within a broader social cognitive theoretical frame. Subsequent sections highlight specific ways that educators can apply insights from Bandura’s theorizing and from the empirical literature that has examined self-efficacy development at different stages of learning and in diverse contexts. We address how educators can create instructional tasks that show progress, establish supportive social structures, and work with students’ emotions in ways that foster self-efficacy. Special attention is given to the sociocultural factors that affect how learners evaluate efficacy-relevant information. Several directions for further applying Bandura’s theory are offered.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional Resources

1. Pajares, F., & Urdan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Adolescence and education, Vol. 5: Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Information Age.

This edited volume features chapters written by leading self-efficacy scholars. Highlights include Bong’s recommendations on self-efficacy assessment (Ch. 13), Bandura’s Guide for Constructing Self-Efficacy Scales (Ch. 14) and a compilation of strategies that parents and teachers can use to support self-efficacy during childhood and adolescence (by Frank Pajares, Ch. 15).

2. Usher, E. L., & Weidner, B. L. (2018). Sociocultural influences on self-efficacy development. In G. A. D. Liem & D. M. McInerney (Eds.), Big theories revisited 2 (pp. 141-164). Information Age.

This chapter examines how the sociocultural context of learning affects self-efficacy development. Using a hypothetical learner case, the authors consider the role that culture plays in directing what student think, how they behave, and how they interpret situational cues within different circumstances. They then explore how these sociocultural processes affect learners’ self-efficacy.

3. Warner, L. M., & French, D. P. (2020). Self-efficacy interventions. In M. S. Hagger, L. D. Cameron, K. Hamilton, N. Hankonen, & T. Lintunen (Eds.), Handbook of behavior change (pp. 461–478). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108677318.032

This chapter begins with a summary of research findings on the ways in which self-efficacy motivates behavior change. The authors present several lists of behavioral techniques and environmental inputs that can be useful for supporting self-efficacy in different educational and healthcare settings. After reviewing relevant research, the authors provide a step-by-step guide to self-efficacy interventions.