Teacher Self-Efficacy in Supporting Student Social and Emotional Wellbeing

Reed, S.K. (Stephanie)¹, McKenzie, V.L. (Vicki)^2
1Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Level 6, 100 Leicester St., 3100, Carlton, Australia
²Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Level 6, 100 Leicester St., 3100, Carlton

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Room 119, 12-07-2019, 09:00 - 10:30

Keywords

Wellbeing, Teacher self-efficacy, social and emotional wellbeing, mental health

Summary

Schools have long been considered important settings for mental health promotion (Askell-Williams & Lawson, 2013; WHO, 2018). As incidence of mental health disorders among Victorian youth in Australia is becoming concerning to the community (AISHW, 2016), and school-based intervention programs are being marketed to schools, it is important to consider what will impact a teacher’s readiness to support student wellbeing. This study aims to determine how personal (teacher self-efficacy) and contextual (school climate) variables influence the confidence of teachers in supporting the social and emotional wellbeing of their students.

Method 140 in-service teachers in Victoria completed three online questionnaires, which captured teacher perceptions of personal and contextual factors. A series of multiple regression analyses were calculated using SPSS-Version 20.

 Results indicated that three out of the four sources of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), mastery experience, physiological and affective state, and vicarious experience, significantly predicted teacher self-efficacy for facilitating student wellbeing. Furthermore, school climate dimensions of academic emphasis and collegial leadership were significant in predicting how confident teachers felt in supporting student wellbeing.

Implications The findings from this study have implications for educational institutions and school-based interventions for encouraging processes that build teacher capacity and enhance collegiality within their teaching professionals.

Auteurs