Relationships among Teacher Efficacy, Classroom Management and Children's Cultural Background

Abstract

Teacher efficacy in the classroom is a dynamic construct. To explore this construct, a one-time professional development workshop was conducted, with participants responding to a set of questionnaires at pre and post-assessment. The present study sought to explore whether or not classroom management efficacy varied based on children's cultural background; specifically, when working with children in general, Latino children and Marshallese children. The study sought to examine whether or not teachers felt more efficacious in working with children from different cultural backgrounds after attending the workshop. The study also explored if classroom management efficacy varied by level of teaching experience. Finally, the study explored the relationship between classroom management style and teachers' level of experience, as well as classroom management efficacy and classroom management style. Study results revealed that there was a significant difference in classroom management efficacy when working with children from different cultural backgrounds. The study also found a significant difference in efficacy in working with children from different cultural backgrounds from the pre-assessment to post-assessment. The study did not find any significant difference in efficacy by level of teaching experience, nor did the study find a relationship between classroom management style and level of teaching experience, or classroom management style and classroom management efficacy. Results suggest that while teachers may be more or less efficacious when working with children from cultural backgrounds other than their own, there may be other factors involved when exploring classroom management efficacy and level of teaching experience.