Background/Purpose: Teaching efficacy impacts job satisfaction (Klassen et al., 2009) and student performance (Guo, Piasta, Justice, & Kaderavek, 2010), and is critical to educator retention and success. Online communities involving electronic mentoring (“e-mentoring”) can provide a forum for novice teachers to receive assistance and reduce feelings of isolation (Pennington, Wilkinson, & Vance, 2004) while gaining verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences, which support self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977). The current study was designed to investigate whether preservice physical educators experienced changes in teaching efficacy following a practicum experience inclusive of e-mentoring within a virtual classroom.
Method: A sequential mixed-method design was implemented. Participants (N = 60) completed teaching efficacy measures before and after a 15-week practicum experience. During the practicum, an online community with e-mentoring was managed by trained college supervisors and field-based practitioners. Following the practicum, a focus group was conducted to further examine e-mentoring and teacher efficacy.
Analysis/Results: Repeated measures t-tests were computed to compare teaching efficacy before and after the e-mentoring-practicum experience. Significant differences (p < .05) were found in mean scores from pre-test to post-test on the Physical Education Teacher Self-Efficacy scale (PETE; Goudas & Biddle, 1998) and in all six subscales of the Norwegian Teacher Self-efficacy Scale (NTSES; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Participants reported greater teaching efficacy levels following the e-mentoring-practicum experience. A taxonomic analysis was completed. Themes emerged related to changes in teaching efficacy, including increased content knowledge and a support network.
Conclusions: Teaching efficacy in physical educators is critical to student success and teacher retention. Acknowledging e-mentoring as a possible method of enhancing preservice teaching efficacy while reducing isolation can assist in re-examining teacher preparation practices.