Self-Perceived Instructional Competence, Self-Efficacy and Burnout during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study of a Group of Italian School Teachers

Abstract

Prolonged school closures, forced isolation, and mutations in social interactions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have posed challenges for actors in the educational context; teachers, in particular, have had to develop new instructional strategies to ensure that lessons could continue. The present research measures in a group of 374 Italian teachers—curricular and specialist support teachers—the relationship between self-perceived instructional competence, self-efficacy, and burnout. The present research, conducted between April and December 2020, represents the second part of a larger study conducted from November 2018 to October 2019, which was replicated during COVID-19. Participants completed an anamnestic questionnaire, the Assessment Teaching Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory in both phases of research; an ad hoc questionnaire (to measure teaching practices) and the Teacher Sense of Self Efficacy Scale were added in the second phase. Data confirm that general level of burnout increased and personal accomplishment was reduced during the pandemic; elevated personal accomplishment appears to be a predictor of emotional, socio-relational, and didactic competences before and during the pandemic. Feelings of frustration and accomplishment represent some manifestations of distress caused by the pandemic condition; these dynamics favor the crystallization of roles and behaviors towards the perception of metacognitive teaching processes.

Teachers' Burnout Risk During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relationships With Socio-Contextual Stress—A Latent Profile Analysis

“…Extensive previous research on TB has identified several individual and environmental factors that significantly contribute to TB before ( 12 , 13 ) and during the COVID-19 pandemic ( 3 , 14 ). Individual factors, such as gender and experience, have been discussed ( 15 , 16 ).…”

“…Individual factors, such as gender and experience, have been discussed ( 15 , 16 ). Other individual aspects, such as emotional intelligence ( 17 , 18 ), personality traits ( 19 , 20 ) and self-efficacy ( 14 , 21 ) are also factors that influence TB. In this regard, previous studies have highlighted those seasoned teachers are less likely to experience burnout symptoms compared to younger teachers, while teachers with increased emotional intelligence and self-efficacy but less neurotics are more protected from experiencing burnout symptoms.…”

Distance Education among Italian Teachers: Differences and Experiences

“…Teaching self-efficacy (i.e., the belief and confidence to implement good teaching in the classroom; Christophersen et al, 2016 ) and online teaching self-efficacy (i.e., self-efficacy related to technology; Anderson et al, 2011 ; Banas & York, 2014 ) are both crucial in education (Brouwers & Tomic, 2003 ; Henson, 2011 ; Valtonen et al, 2015 ). Since the pandemic, many studies on teaching self-efficacy and online teaching self-efficacy have been conducted among different countries, revealing a general decrease in teachers’ self-efficacy (Cataudella et al, 2021 ; Pellerone, 2021 ; Pressley & Ha, 2021 ; Takunyaci, 2021 ) and a general increase in online teaching self-efficacy. Ma et al ( 2021 ), for example, found an increase in online teaching self-efficacy in Chinese teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Košir et al ( 2020 ) showed that Serbian teachers with high online teaching self-efficacy had positive attitudes towards distance education and experienced less stress in using technologies.…”

Burnout in COVID-19 era - a literature review

“…Results show that overall burnout increased and personal achievement decreased during the pandemic. The likely cause is the initial loss of ability to manage behaviour in physical proximity, and because of the distance, the experience of uncertainty about how to manage behaviour online felt by teachers [15].…”