Self-efficacy and Differentiated Instruction: A Study among Malaysian School Teachers

Abstract

The implementation of the mixed-ability classrooms in all secondary schools in Malaysia since 2019 calls for effective teaching strategies. Differentiated instruction is a teaching framework that takes into account the differences amongst students in creating learning opportunities for all. This study aimed to identify the level of teachers' self-efficacy and its significant influence over the differentiated instruction practices. Data was collected using an online questionnaire from 428 teachers teaching in the east coast zone of Malaysia. Two sets of inventories, namely Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and the differentiated instruction practice inventories, were adapted and modified to suit the purpose of this study. Findings showed that teachers' self-efficacy level is Excellent. The results of this study also proved the existence of a significant positive relationship between teachers' self-efficacy and teachers' practice of differentiated instruction, which in turn proved that teachers' self-efficacy has a major influence and can predict teachers' practice of differentiated instruction in the classroom. Therefore, it is hoped that the Ministry of Education Malaysia, the State Education Departments, the District Education Offices, as well as the schools can create a conducive climate for learning in schools, apart from providing practical and continuous professional development training to support teachers' self-efficacy towards further developing the practice of differentiated instruction in the classroom.

Relationship Between Efl Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Their Epistemic Beliefs

“…Students' engagement as well as instructional strategies are influenced by teacher self-efficacy. According to Ramli & Yusoff (2020) differentiated instruction in the classroom is strongly influenced by teachers' self-efficacy. Based on the research, EFL Pre service teachers can use various strategies in teaching, but almost all of them still have difficulty in applying the strategies and are also confused about responding to difficult questions from students.…”

The use of reflective practice towards achieving effective English language teaching at primary schools

“…Moving on to the second part of the research, the participants focused on five elements to make changes in their teaching. The quality of instruction, appropriateness level of instructions, incentive and time as suggested by Slavin [17,18] were highlighted as the needed elements to help them to achieve effective teaching, but the teachers claimed that teachers need to focus on their teaching performance and students' performance [10], teachers' motivation [31] and classroom management [19,25,29,35] to guide them to be more reflective, creative and to think critically to find relevancy in planning and choosing the materials [33,45] as well as effective approaches [30,34] to deliver their instructions successfully [10,[46][47][48].…”

“…Thus, they suggested teachers to use reflective practive to be more flexible and creative enough [3,4] to plan the teaching, to manage the classroom and to deliver the lesson by taking into their consideration of students' prior skills, information, motivation and time needed to learn the lesson [11,24,30]. In addition, teachers need to bear in mind; the students' learning process was affected by teachers' teaching styles and students' individual's behaviour, cognitive needs, thoughts and feelings [16,31,32] to enable the students to be active learners [3,4] to learn, explore, discover and create a better understanding of the subject they learn [1,19,[33][34][35] based on their learning pace [26,35]. Therefore, how English language teachers implement reflective practice in teaching and learning process is needed to be further explored and highlighted to improve students' performance in learning and English language and to upskill the teachers and parents in the intended community.…”

Teacher readiness in applying ATL skills in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Schools

“…Research involving the theme of teacher readiness needs to be given attention because teachers are the driving force of any programme or plan. Research on the importance of teacher-related research acting as agents of change in education has also been discussed in previous studies [22], [23] Another interesting finding is that teachers desperately need regular courses and training [24], [25] to equip them with an understanding and mastery of the ATL skills application process which in turn can enhance their professionalism as teachers in MYPIB schools. Based on the in-depth analysis on the theme of teachers' readiness, five subthemes have been identified as challenges to the application of ATL skills namely teachers' understanding of the application of ATL skills, teachers' appointment, requirements for courses and training, English language constraints and technological mastery constraints.…”