The number of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) in the US currently exceeds 74,000, including over 1,200 National Board Certified Physical Education Teachers (NBCPET). While the knowledge base related to NBCT characteristics and teaching effectiveness is expanding, published research on NBCPET is nearly non-existent. Several studies have shown that NBCT demonstrate a high sense of teaching efficacy (Scharf, 2004; Freund, Russell, & Kavulic, 2005). Teaching efficacy is usually viewed as a two dimensional construct including general teacher efficacy and personal teacher efficacy (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Moeller & Ishii-Jordan, 1996). General teacher efficacy is a teacher's perceptions that teaching can influence learning, while personal teaching efficacy is a teacher's beliefs about the degree to which and how s/he can personally affect student learning through his/her teaching (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). The aim of this study was to examine NBCPET's general and personal teaching efficacies.
Method
In total, 334 NBCPET participated in the present study, which represents a 41% return rate. Each participant completed a Teaching Efficacy Scale Survey (Hoy & Woolfolk, 1990). This sixteen item survey utilized a seven-point Likert scale from “strongly agree” (1) to “strongly disagree” (7). From the total group, 65 participants were randomly selected and subsequently interviewed. In-depth interviews, utilizing standardized open-ended questions based on an interview guide, were conducted with each teacher (Patton, 2002). Interviews lasted approximately forty-five minutes.
Analysis/Results
Descriptive statistics were conducted on survey data. Qualitative data were first analyzed inductively without regard to a theoretical orientation, and subsequently were analyzed deductively through the lens of teacher efficacy theory. Preliminary themes emerged by comparing participant responses on individual questions and eventually in relation to the selected theory. Additional themes evolved through the process of constant comparison (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Mean general teaching efficacy scores were 2.88, while personal teaching efficacy scores were 2.45. Coefficient alpha (Cronbach, 1951) was .831, indicating a high level of internal consistency. Themes emerged around the teachers unyielding beliefs in their: ability to help all children learn, ability to motivate even the most difficult students, passion for the profession, and improved teaching reflection as a result of the NBC process.
Conclusions
Scores on the survey and interview data indicated that these NBCPET generally believed that teaching could affect learning, and were confident that they could influence learning in their own classrooms.