Exploration of Factors Influencing the Teacher Self-Efficacy in Educators of Justice-Involved Juveniles in Special Settings: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Juveniles involved with the justice system are a population of youth with extensive needs who are historically underserved. Legal mandates have attempted to ensure these students are receiving a quality education, but little is known about the educators who are providing services. This explanatory-sequential mixed-methods study sought to identify patterns in demographic characteristics, feelings of teacher self-efficacy, and development of feelings of high teacher self-efficacy in a group of educators of justice-involved juveniles in special settings. Quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics, non-parametric analysis of variance, and non-parametric correlations. Qualitative analysis included an iterative process beginning with a priori codes, leading to development of sub-groupings. Findings suggest this group of participants were moderately efficacious in working with justice-involved juveniles. Group variances indicate females with more life experiences, higher levels of education, and more years of teaching experience tend to score higher on teacher self-efficacy. This group of educators scored slightly higher on Teacher Self-Efficacy scale items that referred to general teaching strategies versus those designed for at-risk or disruptive students, indicating a deficit for working with special populations. Further, this group placed less emphasis on vicarious learning experiences, such as efficacy grained through coursework or observations, in the development of their feelings of high teacher self-efficacy. Implications are discussed regarding future instruction and training of preservice educators to improve feelings of efficacy for working with justice-involved juveniles in special settings.