A comparison of teacher efficacy for pre and in-service

Few studies have been conducted which compare pre-service with in- service teachers on the variable of teacher efficacy. One such study was conducted by Pigge and Marso (1993) who compared a group of pre- service teachers projected to become outstanding teachers and a group of in-service teachers recognized to be outstanding who were at early, mid, and late stages of their careers. In this particular study, no significant differences on he variables of personal teaching efficacy and teacher efficacy were found.

It is interesting to examine the self-rating strategies employed in most teacher efficacy studies especially when individuals' self-ratings can be compared with ratings provided by supervisors of those individuals. In a study by Walker (1992) student teachers tended to rate themselves highly while cooperating teachers were more realistic in their appraisals. "One of the obvious conclusions about this rating would be that student teachers are idealistic about their expectations of their performance in the classroom. It would be interesting to ask those who have full- time jobs...how the items on this survey have been fulfilled in the reality of the classroom world" (Walker, 1992, p. 29).

The conclusion seems justified that more direct comparisons of the teacher efficacy of pre-service teachers and in-service teachers are needed. Would the exuberance, enthusiasm and perhaps even the naivete of pre-service teachers produce higher teacher efficacy scores than obtained by in-service teachers, or would the experience and maturity of in-service teachers produce the opposite result?

Not only would it be interesting to continue looking at a comparison of teacher efficacy between pre-service and in-service teachers, but it would also seem to be of some value to examine the teacher efficacy of pre-service and in-service teachers of different countries.

"When we extend teacher efficacy concerns beyond the shorelines of the United States, we see another growing research trend that attempts to understand teaching and teacher education in terms of development of teaching and personal efficacy beliefs" (Gorrell and Hwang, 1995, p. 101). They go on to suggest that teacher efficacy would be a good topic in comparative studies between the United States and other nations. "Studies with pre-service and in-service teachers both in the United States of America and in other countries would profit from examining closely the growth of teaching and personal efficacy as teachers expand their teaching orientations and their experiences" (Gorrell and Hwang, 1995, p. 104).

Stay tuned!

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