Teaching Efficacy of Elementary Students Teachers

Abstract

The curriculum of Bachelor in Elementary Education requires prospective teachers to undergo student teaching.  In the student teaching phase, the student teacher is mentored by a student teaching supervisor and cooperating teachers.  They are exposed to both on and off-campus training.  In the on and off-campus training, the student teachers performed at least 15 teachings, 1 straight teaching, and a final demonstration.  All of these teachings are evaluated by the cooperating teachers.  The student teaching supervisor joined the cooperating teachers during the straight teaching and final demonstration to evaluate the teaching performance of the student teachers. Individual consultations were conducted to provide feedback on how to improve the teaching skills of the student teachers. In the final demonstration in the off-campus is observed by the Education Program Specialists of the Department of Education.  The Education Program Specialists and the School Principal conducted a conference with the student teachers in the presence of the Student Teaching Supervisor and Dean of the College of Teacher Education.  In the conference, feedbacking on the strengths and weaknesses of the student teachers’ teaching performance was done.  It is a way of the University to receive feedback from the Education Program Specialists which could be input on how to enhance the Student Teaching Program.  The training of the student teachers in the private and public elementary schools may have bearing on the development of their teaching efficacy.  Definition of the literature on the concept of teaching efficacy centers on one’s belief of his/her competencies.  With this premise, the researcher employed the constructivist model of qualitative research to describe the teaching efficacy of student teachers.  A focused group discussion was conducted to describe the indicators of teaching efficacy.  Statements describing teaching efficacy were organized in a questionnaire.  To establish the reliability of the items, the questionnaire was pretested to 37 student teachers who were doing their observation and participation prior to student teaching/internship.  The questionnaire yielded a Cronbach alpha of 91%.  The result signified that the items are reliable.  The questionnaire was then administered to the 24 student teachers.  Based on the data gathered, three core categories based on the weighted means of the items emerged.  These core categories centered on training, professional, and personal competencies.  It was further described that the student teachers’ level of teaching efficacy is generally very high.  In conclusion, the on and off-campus training of the student teachers contributed much to the development of their teaching efficacy.  The training had developed their professional and personal competencies. For further usability of the questionnaire developed from this study, it is recommended that a broader scope be considered, other variables that correlate to teaching efficacy be identified, and pretest and posttest be considered to describe the significant difference after ample training is provided to the student teachers.