Teachers’ self-efficacy of improving academic standards the case of Bolgatanga municipality

Abstract

Self-efficacy is considered as one’s belief in the likelihood of goal completion and can be motivating in itself. To achieve the goals of education, it is very important for teachers to have high self-efficacy which has a direct positive effect on their delivery and the overall benefit of their pupils. In this study, the self-efficacy of teachers in the Bolgatanga municipality was studied. The purpose of the study was in three-fold. First was to access the influence of teachers’ demographics on the self-efficacy. Second, how location influences teachers’ self-efficacy and finally, how these efficacy impact students’ performances. The efficacy dimensions studied are classroom management practices, classroom instructional practices and student engagement. A total of 198 out of 1404 teachers were randomly sampled with simple lottery based on Yerman’s formula. The study was purely quantitative using structured questionnaires. It was noted that, whiles gender has no significant impact on teachers’ self-efficacy, older, more educated and highly experienced teachers had higher self-efficacy. Teachers in the urban sector turn to have higher self-efficacy than those in the rural areas. Not overlooking other factors, students’ poor performance in some rural areas can largely be attributed to the less self-efficacy of their teachers. It’s recommended that more rewarding packages must be introduced to teachers serving in the rural areas (housing, transportation, risk allowances and scholarships). This could affect the mind-sets and increase the motivation of teachers working in rural areas. Finally, government and institutional scholarships for further studies and on-the-training should made available mainly to motivate teachers who serve in rural areas