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Part D

Albert Bandura (1977) pioneered the theory of self-efficacy as a key component in social
cognitive theory. Self-efficacy is ones perception of their capability to learn or perform
actions at certain levels and has been shown to be a major factor influencing motivation,
learning and accomplishment. Bandura identified four sources of influence to self-efficacy
perceptions: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and
physiological states. These contribute to the two vital elements of self efficacy: efficacy
information and efficacy expectations. I will analyse my journal entries through the lens of
self-efficacy, using these four sources and two elements to illustrate the relationship between
self-efficacy and learning.
Efficacy expectation is the belief that one can successfully perform the actions required to
achieve a certain goal. Bandura (1997) explains that ones belief in their self-efficacy is
likely to affect whether they will even try tackle challenging situations or if they will avoid
threatening activities, depending on if they feel assured that they can cope with the situation
or if they feel it exceeds their skills. This is illustrated multiple times throughout my journal
entries, as in A3 when my self-efficacy was high and so I choose to try chainsawing, an
activity I usually would have avoided. Likewise, in B1 and C2 I felt able to tackle situations
that I also felt nervous about. Not only does efficacy expectations affect choice of situations,
it also affects the level of effort expended and the length of time spent persisting in
challenging situations. Hence the stronger the belief in ones abilities, the more effort one will
put into achieving a goal and the longer one will persevere in the face of difficulty. This can
be seen in comparing A2 with A4: in A2 my self-efficacy was lowered which led to me
dropping Painting in Year 13; whereas in A4 I had strong self-efficacy and therefore
persevered through small failures when I perhaps would have given up. Efficacy expectations
can vary in terms of level of difficulty, generality and strength (Bandura, 1977). These three
aspects of self-efficacy can be illustrated in B3 and C1, where I was helping students
struggling with literacy skills. In these situations, my self-efficacy in teaching these students
was strong, which made me put in extra effort to help them; it was based on a general sense
of self-efficacy to help students learning, as opposed to specifically believing in my ability to
help students with low literacy levels; and lastly, the level of my self-efficacy beliefs was
moderate as I felt I could help these students to an extent, but not to the same level as a
literacy specialist or experienced teacher. I will now look at the four sources of efficacy
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expectations identified by Bandura: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience,

verbal persuasion and physiological states.
Performance accomplishments are the strongest and most persistent source of self-efficacy
beliefs. This is reflected in the majority of my journal entries (A3, A4, B2, B4, C2, C3, C4).
For this reason scaffolding is very important in teaching as it lets students build off their
successes, thus increasing their self-efficacy. This is reflected in B4, when our sense of
efficacy in what could be a daunting task was increased by starting with an easier task that we
were confident it so we had an early experience of success. Conversely, feeling in over my
head repeatedly had a debilitating impact on my performance in both A1 and A2, illustrating
the importance for me to experience small successes when learning or completing a
challenging task. This supports Banduras view that experiences of failure are the most
powerful influence in lowering self-efficacy expectations, especially if the failure occurs
early on (1977). This was the case in A1 when my early failure to understand algebra had a
lasting impact on my perception of my ability at maths. However, once strong efficacy
expectations have been created through multiple successes, the occasional failure has minimal
impact, as in A4 where my experience of past mastery created a strong sense of efficacy that
was not changed by small failures in my sewing.
Vicarious experience is when you see someone successfully complete an activity and
therefore are feel that you too can have success in that task. This is otherwise known as
modelling and although it is a weaker source of self-efficacy than mastery experience, it has
influenced my self-efficacy in many occasions. Watching others succeed in a task increased
my motivation and confidence in my ability in C4 when my mentor teachers had modelled
how to gain attention of a class, in B1 when I listened to my classmates speak te reo correctly,
and in B2 when Brian showed us how to memorise peoples names. It can also be employed
as a effective teaching strategy, as in C1 when my mentor suggested I model writing a
sentence to help a student struggling with writing. The strength of vicarious experience to
affect self-efficacy beliefs increases when the person enacting the activity has similar
characteristics to the person watching the modelled behaviour. This is illustrated in A1: I
could not relate to my father, who has a PhD in molecular chemistry, and so seeing him
successfully complete equations did not improve my self-efficacy. Whereas seeing my
classmates speak te reo confidently in B1 helped increase my self-efficacy, more so than
hearing the teachers speak, because of my greater similarity to my class mates. This is one
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reason why peer tutoring can be very effective. Poulou highlights that vicarious experiences
are especially important when there are no definite measures of success (2007). This is
because people need to compare themselves against their peers to assess their ability,
whereby doing better than peers raises self-efficacy and performing worse lowers it. This was
the case in A2 when I perceived my ability in painting to be worse than all my classmates,
which had a debilitating effect on my performance.
Verbal persuasion is another influence on peoples beliefs of their ability to successfully cope
with situations or not. As highlighted by Bandura (1977), the extent to which persuasion
affects self-efficacy beliefs depends on the credibility, trustworthiness and expertise of the
persuader. This is apparent in A3, when the encouragement I received from my boyfriend was
meaningful because I trusted his opinions in my ability and he was expert at chainsawing. As
emphasised by Hoy and Spero (2005), a strong source of self-efficacy for beginner teachers is
student enthusiasm and engagement, as well as feedback from experienced teachers through
encouragement and advice. This can be seen in C2 as I gained confidence in my abilities
through the engagement of the class in the discussion. This is also apparent in C3 as the
advice given by my mentor made me feel confident in applying a flexible attitude to time
management. Yet in the face of repeated failure, verbal persuasion is unlikely to be successful
in changing self-efficacy beliefs, which can be the case when encouraging students who have
a history of failure in a subject. Teachers also need to be aware of the danger in raising selfefficacy expectations through verbal persuasion without arranging the conditions for
achieving success, as this can serve to undermine their reliability (Bandura, 1977).
Physiological states also affect ones belief in their capability to achieve and personally have
a large impact on my self-efficacy. Stress, anxiety and fear can lead to a lowered sense of
self-efficacy or avoidance of challenging situations. This happened in A1 as my Dads
frustration made me feel stressed and hence I wanted to give up. Because these negative
emotive states usually debilitate performance, they lower the likelihood of achieving success,
even though the fear or anxiety of a situation often exceed the actual fear experienced.
Overall physiological states can also affect self-efficacy in a more holistic sense. As Schunk
and Pajares explain: one way to raise self-efficacy beliefs is to improve physical and
emotional well-being and reduce negative emotional states (2010). This is certainly
applicable to A2, in which general stress, anxiety and pressure due to it being my final year of
high school and family illness and death lowered my overall self-efficacy at that time.
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Likewise, feeling confident and positive overall can lead to greater self-efficacy in unrelated
activities, as in C4 where I felt ready to tackle taking a full lesson by myself, even though it
was my first time ever teaching at the front of the class, because I was feeling positive and
confident. Feeling physically capable also aids self-efficacy, especially for activities requiring
strength and stamina, such as chainsawing in A3.
These sources of efficacy information that form efficacy expectations are impacted by the
context in which they are cognitively processed, such as the social, situational and temporal
circumstances (Bandura, 1977). Hence peoples belief in their capability to perform in
threatening situations can be different than in secure and comfortable conditions. My
confidence in saying my pepiha in front of a room of people in B1 would have been much
lower if it was not for the very supportive environment I was in. Likewise, I would have been
more nervous taking the Year 13 History class for a discussion in C2 if it wasnt for the
support of my mentor teacher and the good behaviour and engagement of the students. This
supports the work of Anita Woolfolk who emphasises the importance of social support and
resources for fostering self-efficacy in beginner teachers (Shaughnessy, 2004). Successes are
also more likely to contribute to greater self-efficacy if they are not attributed to luck or the
use of external aids. This was the case in C4 where I independently took the class by myself,
which cemented my confidence in taking the class in the future, more so than if I teamteached. Efficacy information is also affected by the perceived difficulty of the task, whereby
success in apparently easier tasks has lower impacts on self-efficacy compared to success in
more difficult tasks. For example, reciting my pepiha in B1 is relatively simple and so hasnt
increased my self-efficacy in having a conversation in Mori. Efficacy information is also
impacted by the amount of effort used, as successes achieved through greater effort are more
likely to connote lesser ability than tasks that require less effort.
Self-efficacy beliefs affect virtually all aspects of life and are particularly important in
teaching and learning. Teachers and students with high self-efficacy have greater agency to
motivate their learning and use more self-regulatory practices such as goal-setting, trying new
strategies and self-evaluation (Zimmerman, 2000). It is therefore not surprising that teachers
self-efficacy for teaching has proved to be an important predictor of positive teacher and
student outcomes (Hoy & Spero, 2005; Shaughnessy, 2004). It is crucial to understand what
affects my sense of self-efficacy when learning and teaching in order to cultivate a strong
sense of self-efficacy as a beginner teacher.
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References

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioural change.

Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. Retrieved from http://
ovidsp.tx.ovid.com/
Hoy, A. W., & Spero, R. (2005). Changes in teacher efficacy during the early years of
teaching: A comparison of four measures. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21,
343-355. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2005.01.007
Poulou, M. (2007). Personal Teaching Efficacy and Its Sources: Student teachers'
perceptions. Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental
Educational Psychology, 27(2), 191-218. doi:10.1080/01443410601066693
Schunk, D. H., & Pajares, F. (2010). Self-efficacy beliefs. In P. Peterson, E. Baker & B.
McGaw (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (3rd ed., pp. 668-672).
New York: Elsevier.
Shaughnessy, M. (2004). An Interview with Anita Woolfolk: The Educational
Psychology of Teacher Efficacy. Educational Psychology Review, 16(2),
153-176. doi:10.1023/B:EDPR.0000026711.15152.1f
Zimmerman, B. (2000). Self-Efficacy: An Essential Motive to Learn. Contemporary
Educational Psychology, 25(1), 82-91. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1016

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