The Overlooked Construct in Teaching and Education? A Case Study on Collective Teacher Efficacy

Many factors are considered an important influence on teacher well-being and academic progress outcomes.

However the group referent concept of collective teacher efficacy has been overlooked.

The thesis aimed to shed light on this concept and its importance to teachers both individually and as a whole.

The systematic literature review critically analysed the relationship between collective teacher efficacy and teacher self-efficacy.

Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria and were weighted on their methodological and topic relevance and methodological quality.

All studies were correlational in nature from Pearson's r to structural equation modelling.

The studies of a higher quality demonstrated a significant positive relationship between collective teacher efficacy and teacher self-efficacy to moderate effect. Implications for future research and EP practice are discussed.

The empirical paper sort to investigate the perceived level and sources of collective teacher efficacy in a secondary school. The rationale for this was to inform school leaders and other professionals of possible areas of improvement for teacher well-being, indirectly supporting student academic outcomes.

The research adopted a case study with an embedded mixed methods approach to investigate teachers' perception of collective teacher efficacy.

35 teachers completed questionnaires and nine teachers took part in semi-structured interviews. In one secondary school the teachers indicated that levels of teacher self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy were above average.

Furthermore, they perceived there was some form of relationship between how efficacious they felt the school was and their personal efficacy, however this was measured.

Teachers' perceptions of the sources of collective teacher efficacy were presented within a framework and showed many factors were considered in their estimation.

The results suggested that teachers rely heavily on their assumptions in their estimation of collective teacher efficacy.

Strengths and weaknesses of the research are discussed.