What Factors Did Teachers Identify As Influencing Their Professional Self-Efficacy In Teaching?

Twelve teachers from an elementary school in northern Georgia participated in a phenomenological study that investigated their perceptions of their self-efficacy and why they remain in the education profession. The study’s focus was on the teacher’s perception of how their self-efficacy influenced their completion of tasks as a teacher and affected their students’ achievement. Norton's (2013, p.20) guided research questions were: “1) What are the perceptions of secondary school teachers regarding how their self-efficacy influences the academic achievement of their students? 2. What personality characteristics do teachers feel add to their positive or negative self-efficacy in teaching? 3. What factors did teachers identify as influencing their professional self-efficacy in teaching”?
The research questions centered around teachers’ perceptions of how self-efficacy influences the academic achievement of their students, on what personality characteristics they feel teachers add to their positive or negative self-esteem in teaching, and on what factors they identify as influencing their professional self-efficacy in teaching. Accordingly, the researcher used the phenomenological study design because it dealt with the viewpoints and the reality of
According to Ruppel and Mey. (2014), grounded theory is the most used method of research. Researchers who use grounded theory are engaging and exploring in the research process that in turn produce a theory grounded in data. Grounded theory research is confusing because the method and output have the same name. Therefore, the researcher lacks the knowledge of what is studied until a large amount of the analysis is completed. Unlike the phenomenological study by Norton (2013) that was interested in the individual or group’s experiences, grounded theory’s main category becomes the concept that all other concepts relate. This method of reseach requires its own design when