Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Language Teacher Psychology: Teacher Matters, Mersin, Türkiye, 5 - 07 Ekim 2022, ss.10-24
In self-efficacy research originated from behaviorism there was too much focus is on the outcome. However, the agency gained importance in self-efficacy research with the involvement of cognitive school of thought. After that the definition of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs was changed and now in literature accepted definition of self-efficacy beliefs is task specific, domain specific and context specific, which signals the fact that teachers may hold beliefs that vary from one specific task, domain and context to another one. It is agent-means belief, therefore; Complex Dynamic System Theory (CDST), a meta-theory that was applied in this study let us to see the dynamic changes of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs particularly in writing domain. This present study is a case study that aims to investigate a single individual in which the researcher explores in-depth data relating to numerous variables. To achieve this, a case-centric type of process tracing method (Bennett & George, 1997), a single-case study design was adopted. To capture the idea of dynamic research, the study was carried out with a single teacher, and at the same time the data were collected at many regular measurement points over the course of one semester. The findings crucially emphasized that self-efficacy beliefs of teachers are dynamic, multidimensional and evolving. This study thus offers new ways of interpreting the efficacy of teachers as a task, domain and context specific issue through complexity perspective.
Key words: Language Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs, agent-means beliefs, Causal Mechanisms, Process-Tracing Method, Complexity Theory