‘I was always the good girl’: the twofold silencing of teachers as a force fostering a low sense of professional self-efficacy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to expand the theory of self-efficacy in relation to feminist perspectives by exploring the factors and the dynamics that foster a low sense of professional self-efficacy in Israeli female teachers. Listening to their voices enables us to learn about their past experiences in the nuclear family and consider their repercussions for professional self-efficacy in the present. Fourteen teachers who were identified as having a low sense of professional self-efficacy participated in in-depth open interviews. Data were analysed according to Grounded Theory methodology, implementing the axial coding procedure. Findings indicated that these teachers’ sense of professional self-efficacy was affected by their experience of having been silenced by the dominant authority figures in two spheres of life: the nuclear family (parents) and the workplace (school principal). Similar patterns in the two spheres and their implications for teachers and principals are discussed.

Keywords:

• silencing
• teachers’ self-efficacy
• parents
• school principal

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Chen Yardenay for her help in the preparation of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.