One of the questions I have been asked about my learning this semester was: what concept or theory have you drawn from in understanding the complexity of schools and classrooms?
I had to think about this one for awhile, but when my answer came, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it right away.
Bandura’s self-efficacy theory: one’s belief that a given task can be successfully performed
This has nothing to do with objective skills, but rather the BELIEF of the capability to perform a skill well. Self-efficacy influences whether a student will try at all, the degree of effort, and how long they will persist at a task. As teachers, we have SO much influence on students’ self-efficacy! We have so much power to make this higher for them, and I think we should take it upon ourselves to really make a difference in any way we can to improve students’ self-efficacy
As teachers, we are able to help improve students’ self-efficacy through modelling behaviour or skills (both as the teacher and through specific pairing of students together), through verbal persuasion (providing specific feedback on things they do well), and helping them with their physical/emotional reactions (check in with students and provide help or direction).
While this sounds like a prescriptive psychology answer, this is a theory that actually has hit home to my just how influential we are as teachers. I can think back to my own experiences in high school where teachers have had both positive and negative impacts on my own self-efficacy and while I didn’t know it at the time, I can now see exactly how and why it made me feel like it did – and as a result act the way I did. Increasing self-efficacy is paramount to having successful students and as a teacher, I want to make sure I do everything in my power to make sure kids feel good about themselves (even when that can be a challenge!).
