Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA in Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Elizabeth Brondolo

Abstract

Limited data suggests that contextual factors such as school characteristics and physical learning environment have an effect on teachers’ self-efficacy. The present study aims to examine the relationship between these contextual factors and how they affect self-efficacy in a sample of 1,961 teachers in Vietnam who taught Pre-K-12th grade. Self-reported measures were derived from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) measure, and the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale – Short Form (TSES-SF). We evaluated the effects of contextual factors including: grade level, years of teaching experience, school sector (e.g., public school)/school location (e.g., urban), and physical learning environment (classroom type, e.g., a collaborative teaching space) on self-efficacy and sub-dimensions of self-efficacy including self efficacy in student engagement and self efficacy in classroom management. I hypothesized that these school characteristics could influence teachers’ ability to support student learning and to manage students’ behavior. Characteristics including years of teaching experience, school sector, and school location were not associated with self-efficacy. However, grade level taught was a significant correlate of teacher self-efficacy, specifically showing that teachers of younger students (e.g., elementary school) had higher levels of self-efficacy and its sub-dimensions (specifically in student engagement) than teachers of older students (e.g., middle and high school). The immediate physical learning environment was also significantly associated with self-efficacy and its sub-dimensions. Specifically, teachers who spent more time in traditional classrooms had lower self-efficacy than those who were less likely to work in traditional classrooms. Teachers who worked in collaborative classrooms had more total self-efficacy, self-efficacy in student engagement, and self-efficacy in classroom management than those who did not work in collaborative classrooms as often. Teaching outside the classroom (e.g., in hallways) was associated with lower levels of total self-efficacy, and self-efficacy in classroom management but was not associated with self-efficacy in student engagement. Overall, the immediate environment such as the type of classroom and students’ grade level, seems to be more critical for teacher self-efficacy than other broader factors such as school location, or school sector.

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