Share Paper: From Ephemera to Building Blocks: Capturing New Understandings About Efficacy Beliefs Among Teachers in Learning Communities Using Repertory Grid Elicitation

1. Ulana Pidzamecky, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada
2. Roland vanOostveen, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada

Abstract: Abstract: A teacher's efficacy belief is a perception of his or her potential to facilitate student learning and engagement (Bandura, 1971, 1977). However, investigators studying this notion by probing and capturing shifts in teacher cognition about it have confronted persistent measurement problems (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001). As learners, teachers are often content with what may be superficial understandings, and this can impact their job satisfaction and students’ academic achievement (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Steca, & Malone, 2006). This paper explores the findings of two educational studies which tested a different approach for educing evidence of formative change in the thinking of teachers ...