Early Career Teachers’ Self-Efficacy for Balanced Reading Instruction

Abstract

According to Bandura (1986;

Language Teachers’ Self-efficacy Beliefs: A Review of the Literature (2005-2016)

“…These researchers suggest, therefore, ways of guiding the conversation into areas where statements relating to LTSE beliefs are more likely to occur. Hastings (2012) goes beyond this. She defines self-efficacy beliefs for her Australian participants in language they should understand, distinguishing between these beliefs and self-confidence in general; she then provides a clear example to illustrate how teachers might feel more efficacious for some tasks than others.…”

“…Oceania is an example of such apparent neglect. While prominent TSE beliefs researchers from this continent include Mulholland and Wallace (2001) and Labone (2004), the LTSE beliefs of language teachers in Australia and New Zealand have been under-explored, notwithstanding research by Hastings (2012), Locke et al (2013) and Locke and Johnston (2016) that is comparatively rare in including teachers of English as a first language. Reasons for the comparative gap might include the tendency of many English language teacher educator-researchers to conduct their research in the EFL contexts where they have worked full-time.…”

An Analysis of Attitudes, Perceptions, and Practices of Shared Reading among Preschool Teachers in Malaysia

“…Shared reading is considered as a social-constructivist activity that can provide opportunities for children to learn language and to acquire emergent literacy skills (Girolametto et al, 2012). During shared reading, teachers do not only model the reading, but also mediate children's language learning by using prompts such as asking questions and providing feedback to students (Hastings, 2012). Kindergarten teachers can facilitate young children's early literacy learning by introducing print concepts, drawing their attention to the print features, and modeling correct letter-sound associations (Piasta et al, 2010).…”

“…Vygotsky's social development theory suggests that adults, such as teachers, play an important role in providing quality adult-child interactions to facilitate children's language and literacy development. One important concept in Vygotsky's social development theory is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which describes a zone in-between the level of performance that the child can achieve independently and that which he or she can achieve with assistance (Hastings, 2012). In short, ZPD helps to bridge the gap between what a child knows and what a child potentially can know.…”

A longitudinal analysis of the alignment between children’s early word-level reading trajectories, teachers’ reported concerns and supports provided

“…In Australia, where the present study was conducted, approaches to early reading instruction vary. The most common approach, supported by the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA, 2015), is "balanced literacy" (Hastings, 2012;Hill, 2017). While various forms of phonics-based instruction may be utilised as one element within a balanced literacy approach, there is concern that many Australian teachers do not have the knowledge to teach phonics with precision and fidelity, due to lack of emphasis on how to teach decoding skills and address learning difficulties in initial teacher education (Stark, Snow, Eadie, & Goldfeld, 2016).…”