Student Teacher Self-Efficacy: Scaffolded and unscaffolded reflection

Abstract

This study emerges in the light of heightened debate about what constitutes best "evidence-based teacher education" programs, and benchmarked professional standards of teacher graduate attributes. Within teacher education, the beliefs students create, foster and hold true are foundational motivators determining depth of engagement and learning both intra-personally and professionally. The impact of self-efficacy beliefs in pre-service teacher education is profound. Consequently, this paper explores the processes by which students developed, identified and especially reflected upon their self-efficacy beliefs. The broader study has used both teacher and learner self-efficacy scales and was begun in 2006. However in this paper students' reflective writing on two administrations of teacher self-efficacy scales are focussed upon. An analytical framework based upon self-efficacy, reflective practice, the Quality Teaching Framework (NSW DET 2003) and the NSW Institute of Teachers' Professional Teaching Standards (NSW IT 2005) informed this study. Two forms of students' reflective writing, scaffolded and unscaffolded, were analysed to ascertain student beliefs, and knowledge about their reflective practices as student teachers, and the differences between scaffolded and un-scaffolded reflections. Preliminary findings revealed a relative conceptual shallowness in the intellectual quality of students' reflective practice in un-scaffolded as compared to scaffolded reflections. Implications are drawn for teacher education practice.