Self-efficacy is the belief that an individual is able to control the outcomes of potentially stressful situations. How teacher candidates feel about their ability to control new challenges can affect their performance in the classroom. Those with a poorer sense of self-efficacy may believe situations are out of their control. A more positive sense of perceived self-efficacy can lead to more positive outcomes. This article reports the results of a teacher self-efficacy scale administered to elementary and secondary teacher candidates at the beginning and end of their student teaching semester. Findings suggest that perceived self-efficacy among student teachers increases throughout the course of the student teaching experience.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.