The Interplay of Teachers’ Profile, Workload and Self-Efficacy: A Correlational Study

The Interplay of Teachers’ Profile, Workload and Self-Efficacy: A Correlational Study

Lyndy G. Pantao

Master Teacher II, Parañaque National High School-Main, Schools Division of Parañaque City, National Capital Region, Philippines

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.8100025

Received: 13 September 2024; Accepted: 25 September 2024; Published: 28 October 2024

ABSTRACT

This study aims to determine the relationships between demographic profile, workload profile, and sense of self-efficacy of teachers in a public senior high school setting. Frequency distribution and percentage calculation were used to describe the demographic profile, and workload profile. Median was used for self-efficacies. Point biserial correlation and Spearman rho correlation were used to determine the relationship between the demographic profile of the teachers and teacher’s self-efficacy. Spearman rho correlation was used to determine the relationship between the workload profile of the teachers to teacher’s self-efficacy. The results show that age and years of teaching experience were significantly related to teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. There were positive and non-significant relationships calculated with sex, education level, subject taught, and teaching to the three constructs of teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. There were positive and non-significant relationships between teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in teaching hours, planning lessons, marking/correcting of students’ work, recording student performance, and student counseling.  Negative and non-significant correlations were calculated with staff meetings and general administrative work.

Keywords: Demographic Profile, Teacher Workload, Self-Efficacy

INTRODUCTION

The state of mind has a power on its own. According to Bandura, one can achieve things if he thinks he can. If the mind thinks it cannot do things, then that would limit the things one is perfectly capable of doing. Everyone has potentials and the way we see our capability greatly influences these potentials. The proponent observed that in his workplace, some senior high school teachers are given faculty workloads that can be described as challenging. Factors like teaching subjects are not of the teacher’s specialization and long teaching hours. This work scenario poses a threat to teachers’ self-efficacy.

There have been many studies about teacher’s self-efficacy. Some studies relate teachers’ self-efficacies to emotions (Burić et al., 2020), how it is affected by personal values and motivations (Barni et al., 2019), teacher self-efficacy and pupil achievement (Jerrim et al., 2023) but literature about how demographic profile and workload profile interact with teacher’s self-efficacy are scarce and limited. Comprehensive studies examining the interactions between teachers’ profile variables or workload, on self-efficacy or instructional practices are lacking, though. Also, there has not been much research done on the relationship between teachers’ demographic profile, workload profile, and teacher’s self-efficacy. This study aims to bridge these gaps by investigating the relationships among teacher’s demographic profile variables and workload profile on self-efficacy and instructional practices.

As such, the purpose of this correlational study is to test the self-efficacy of the Social Cognitive Theory that relates the demographic profile, and workload profile, to the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy at Parañaque National High School – Main Senior High School (PNHS-Main SHS). Workload profile is contextually defined in this study as the total number of hours spent on teaching, planning lessons, marking/correcting students’ work, recording student performance, student counseling, staff meetings, and general administrative work in one week. A teacher’s sense of self-efficacy is defined in this study as the teacher’s belief in his own ability to guide the students to success in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.

This study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of PNHS-Main Senior High School (SHS) teachers in terms of sex, age, education level, subject taught, teaching position, and years of teaching experience?
2. What is the workload profile of PNHS-Main SHS teachers in terms of teaching hours, planning lessons, marking/correcting students’ work, recording student performance, student counseling, staff meetings, and general administrative work?
3. What is the teacher’s self-efficacy of PNHS-Main SHS teachers in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the profile of the PNHS-Main SHS teachers to teacher’s self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management?
5. Is there a significant relationship between the workload profile of the PNHS-Main SHS teachers to teacher’s self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management?

LITERATURE REVIEW

This research study is grounded in Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), which emphasizes the significance of self-efficacy in shaping behavior and performance. Social Cognitive Theory states that learning occurs in a social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior. The theory considers a person’s prior experiences, which influence whether behavioral action will take place. Reinforcements, expectations, and expectancies are all influenced by past experiences, and they all have an impact on whether or not someone will engage in a particular behavior as well as the motivations behind that behavior (Lamorte, 2022).

Self-efficacy affects one’s motivation, learning capacity, and performance. A person is more likely to finish projects if he has a high level of self-efficacy (Begum, 2024). The literature presents that teachers’ behavior has a significant relationship with academic performance (Rashid & Zaman, 2018). If the teacher has a high self-assessment, it is more likely that she is an effective teacher. Effective teachers translate well to their learners. Teachers who are burdened with heavy workloads due to other administrative tasks assigned to them will most likely spend less time on the function expected of them, which is to teach. There is a positive relationship between overall teacher efficacy, the efficacy of student engagement, and efficacy of instructional strategies and math scores (Patrice White & Beach, 2009).

The results of the data analysis by Savas and Eser put forward that there was a significant, medium and negative correlation between teacher self-efficacy and burnout levels of the teachers. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results, which were run to assess the relationship between the two variables better, indicated that teacher self-efficacy predicted burnout negatively (Savaş et al., 2014).

In the study of Mitchell (2014), teacher self-efficacy was correlated to classroom management styles namely reward strategies, preventive strategies, initial corrective strategies, and later corrective strategies. Significant relationships were found between teacher self-efficacy and the use of preventive strategies. This is also true with initial corrective strategies, reward strategies, and later corrective strategies. The study indicated that as teacher self-efficacy increases, the classroom management styles tend to increase.

The study by  Lazarides et al., (2020) which used longitudinal structural equation models showed that teachers’ classroom management self-efficacy positively related to aspects of their perceived classroom management, particularly during their early career. Between early and mid-career, the positive relationship between self-efficacy and classroom management was moderated by early career excessive demands.

As the main stakeholders, the learners are the direct and ultimate recipients of education. Directly or indirectly, whatever the teacher does inside a classroom is related to how the learners learn in the classroom (Alrefaei, 2015). To ensure a positive learning experience for the learners, positive self-efficacy must be possessed by the teacher. This study reminds the teachers of the importance of self-assessment. How these factors are related to dispensing the role of the noble profession is essential in the day-to-day basis of a teacher’s life. Self-awareness of one’s capability is a sure way of developing one self’s capacity. As said, one cannot give what one does not have.

METHODOLOGY

The design employed in this study is a quantitative correlational design. This research design was chosen because it provides an opportunity for one to predict scores and explain the relationship among variables. The population of interest includes Paranaque National High School – Main Senior High School teachers. A representative sample was drawn, encompassing teachers with varying demographic characteristics and levels of experience. Sample size determination was based on statistical techniques to ensure adequate power and representativeness. Slovin formula was used to determine the number of samples which was randomly taken from the population.

The research instrument used in the research is composed of three parts. The first part deals with the demographic profile of the respondents. The second part is about the workload profile, and the third part is a survey about the Teacher’s Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale. The researcher adapted validated questionnaires to measure the variables used in this study. The independent variables such as demographic profiles and workload profile of the respondents were adapted from the Teacher Workload Survey 2019 (Walker et al., 2019).

After the teacher-respondents submitted the completed online survey instruments, the data were downloaded from Google drive. The downloaded data were in Microsoft Excel. The data were then processed by converting it into codes. Once the data were already converted, it was then transferred to SPSS software for analysis.

The independent variables were converted from raw data to ordinal data. For example, the age data was grouped into age brackets. In effect, the level of measurement of the data became ordinal level. Other demographic profiles and workload profiles were also converted. This was done so that the appropriate statistical treatment could be determined.

The dependent variables were measured using a 12-item Teacher Efficacy Scale scored using a 9-point Likert scale. Since the items were already positively worded, the researcher did not need to reverse the codes. Each item was entered into SPSS with a score of 1 (Nothing) – 9 (A Great Deal) with 9 being the highest. Higher sum scores indicated a stronger sense of self-efficacy. Subscales were aggregated into composite scores to analyze the data concerning dimensions. Descriptive statistics were run to determine the distribution and detect outliers. The research questions were examined at the .05 level of significance.

RESULTS

In this study, the demographic profile refers to the PNHS-Main Senior High School teacher’s sex, age, education level, subject taught, teaching position, and years of teaching experience. To establish statistical findings of the respondents’ demographic profile, descriptive statistical methods were used through the calculation of frequency and percentage distribution.

The majority of the teacher respondents are female comprising thirty-eight (38) or 60.32% of the total respondents. The remaining twenty-five (25) or 39.7% of the teacher respondents are male. The data indicates that the teachers at PNHS-Main Senior High School are mostly female.

The age profile yielded age bracket 26-30 years old comprises the majority of the respondents with nineteen (19) or 30.2% of the respondents. It was followed by the age bracket 31-35 years old with eleven (11) or 17.5% of the respondents. There are seven (7) teacher respondents or 11.1% from the age bracket of 41-45 years old. The age brackets ranging from 21-25 years old, 36-40 years old, and 46-50 years old have an equal number of respondents with six (6) respondents each or 9.5%. There are five (5) teacher respondents or 7.9% for the age bracket 51-55 years old and two (2) respondents or 3.2% for the age bracket 56-60 years old. Lastly, the age bracket with the least number of teacher respondents belongs to the age group ranging from 61-65 years old or 1.6% of the respondents.

The education level profile reveals that the majority of the teacher respondents have a Bachelor’s Degree with twenty-six (26) teachers or 41.3%. It is followed by the group which has Bachelor’s Degrees with Master’s Units comprising twenty-three (23) teachers or 36.5%. Teacher respondents with Master’s Degrees and Doctorate Degrees have seven (7) or 11.1% and five (5) or 7.9%, respectively. The remaining 3.2% or 2 are teacher respondents with Master’s Degrees with Doctorate Units.

Subject taught survey resulted in a majority of the teacher respondents teaching Technical and Vocational Livelihood which comprised thirteen (13) teachers or 20.6% of the respondents. This is followed by the teachers teaching Science and English both with eleven (11) teachers or 17.5% of the respondents. Teacher respondents teaching ABM and Social Science both with eight (8) teachers or 12.7%. Mathematics and Filipino teachers have five (5) or 7.9% and four (4) or 6.3%, respectively. The least number of teacher respondents are from Physical Education with three (3) or 4.8% of the respondents.

In terms of a teaching position, the majority of the respondents are composed of Teacher II with twenty-six (26) teachers or 41.3%. This is followed by teachers having Teacher I position with nineteen (19) teachers or 30.2%. Teacher III and Master Teacher II teaching positions have seven (7) or 11.1% of the respondents. Lastly, the teaching position with the least number of teacher respondents belongs to Master Teacher I with four (4) teachers or 6.3% of the respondents.

In terms of years of teaching experience, the majority of the teacher respondents are in the 1-3 years bracket with eighteen (18) teachers or 28.6%. This is followed by a 4-6 years bracket with sixteen (16) teachers or 25.4% of the respondents. Nine (9) teachers or 14.3% have 7-9 years of teaching experience. The 10-12 years have six (6) teachers or 9.5%. The brackets, 16-18 years, and 19-21 years have four (4) teachers or 6.3% of the respondents. Two (2) teachers or 3.2% have 28-30 years of teaching experience. Only one (1) or 1.6% of the respondents have 25-27 years of teaching experience.

Workload profile is contextually defined in this study as the total number of hours spent on teaching, planning lessons, marking/correcting students’ work, recording student performance, student counseling, staff meetings, and general administrative work in one week.

The majority of the teaching hours of the teacher respondents consisted of 26-30 hours with twenty-five (25) teachers or 39.7% of the respondents. This is followed by teacher respondents who spent 31-35 teaching hours with eighteen (18) teachers or 28.6%. The 21-25 teaching hours come third with thirteen (13) teachers or 20.6% of the respondents. This is followed by a 36-40 teaching hours bracket with five (5) teachers of 7.9%. Lastly, only two (2) or 3.2% of the respondents spent 16-20 teaching hours.

In planning lessons, the majority of the respondents spent 6-7 hours with thirty-nine (39) teachers or 61.9% of the respondents. This is followed by the 4-5 hours of planning lessons with sixteen (16) teachers or 25.4%.  Seven (7) teachers or 11.1% spent 2-3 hours of planning lessons. Lastly, only one (1) teacher or 1.6% spent 0-1 hour planning lessons.

In terms of marking/correcting students’ work, twenty-six (26) teachers or 41.3% of the respondents spent 3-5 hours in marking/correcting students’ work. This is followed by seventeen (17) teachers or 27.0% who spent 6-7 hours. The 2-3 hours bracket has sixteen (16) teachers or 25.4%.  The time brackets, 0-1 hour and 8-9 hours, both have two (2) teachers or 3.2% of the respondents.

In recording student performance, the majority of the teacher respondents spent 2-3 hours recording student performance with twenty-four (24) teachers or 38.1%. This is followed by teachers who spent 4-5 hours with twenty (20) teachers or 31.7% of the respondents. Teachers who spent 6-7 hours come next with thirteen (13) teachers or 19.0%. The time brackets, 0-1 hour and 8-9 hours, both have three (3) teachers or 4.8% of the respondents.

Student counseling tenders the majority of the teacher respondents spent 2-3 hours with forty (40) teachers or 63.5%. This is followed by teacher respondents who spent 4-5 hours with thirteen (13) teachers or 20.6% of the respondents. Teachers who spent 0-1 hour in student counselling are composed of six (6) teachers or 9.5%. The least number of teachers spent 6-7 hours with four (4) teachers or 6.3%.

For staff meetings, the majority of the respondents spent 2-3 hours for staff meetings with forty-six (46) teachers or 73.0%. Teachers who spent 4-5 hours for staff meetings come next with nine (9) teachers or 14.3%. The time bracket of 0-1 hour has six (6) teachers or 9.5% of the respondents. Two (2) teachers or 3.2% of the respondents spent 6-7 hours for staff meetings.

General administrative work renders the majority of the teacher respondents spent 2-3 hours doing general administrative work with twenty (20) teachers or 31.7% of the respondents. This is followed by nineteen (19) teachers or 30.2% who spent 4-5 hours and seventeen (17) teachers or 27.0% who spent 6-7 hours doing general administrative work. Four (4) teachers or 6.3% and three (3) teachers or 4.8% spent 0-1 hour and 8-9 hours, respectively.

The median self-efficacy of the teacher respondents in terms of student engagement is 4.00 which is interpreted as Quite A Bit. The teacher respondents can motivate students who show low interest in school work, can get students to believe they can do well in school work, and can assist families in helping their children do well in school. The teacher respondents view themselves as very efficient in the area where they can do to help their students value learning where the median self-efficacy is 5.00. This is interpreted as A Great Deal.

The median self-efficacy score of the teacher respondents in instructional strategies is 4.00 which is interpreted as Quite A Bit. The teacher respondents can craft good questions for their students, can use a variety of assessment strategies, can provide an alternative explanation or example when students are confused and can implement alternative strategies in their classroom.

The median self-efficacy score of the teacher respondents in terms of classroom management is 4.00 which is interpreted as Quite A Bit. The teacher respondents can control disruptive behavior in the classroom, can get children to follow classroom rules, can calm a student who is disruptive or noisy, and can establish a classroom management system with each group of students.

DISCUSSION

The relationships between the demographic profile of PNHS-Main SHS teachers and their self-efficacies in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management were examined. Point Biserial correlation and Spearman rho correlation were calculated to measure the strength and direction of the relationship between the demographic profile variables and self-efficacy in each area. The results are presented in the following tables.

Table 1. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between the Sex of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

A Point Biserial correlation was performed to assess if sex is related to self-efficacy. The calculation revealed that there is no significant relationship that exists between sex and self-efficacy in terms of student engagement r_pb = .105, p > .05, instructional strategies r_pb = .162, p > .05, and classroom management r_pb = .164, p > .05. The study finds very weak relationship between sex and the three constructs of self-efficacy.

These findings contribute to existing literature on the relationship between sex and self-efficacy of SHS teachers. The result of this study supported that of the study of  Cason (2018) where no significant relationship emerged between gender and the three measured factors of teacher efficacy. It can be inferred based on the result that sex is not a factor that can affect the self-efficacies of SHS teachers.

Table 2. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Age of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Spearman’s rank-order correlations were run to examine the relationships between age, and the three constructs of self-efficacy. There were positive and significant correlations between age and student engagement, r_s = .34, p < .01, and instructional strategies, r_s = .28, p < .05. There was a positive and non-significant correlation between age and classroom management, r_s = .23, p > .05.

These signify those teachers with higher age tend to have higher self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. This finding contrasts with the work of (Cason, 2018a) who investigated the relationship between age and the three measured factors of teacher self-efficacy in Christian Private School teachers.  The outcomes of the research showed that no significant relationship emerged between age and the three measured factors of teacher efficacy.

Table 3. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Education Level of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between education level and student engagement, r_s = .12, p > .05, instructional strategies, r_s = .22, p > .05, and classroom management, r_s = .20, p > .05.

The result is in support of the study of Cason (2018) which revealed a non-significant relationship between educational level and the three measured factors of teacher efficacy. The findings of the study lie at odds with the study of Shoulders & Krei, (2015) which found a significant difference between the different levels of education and efficacy in instructional practices and classroom management. According to the researchers’ findings, those with higher degrees are more effective at managing classrooms and using instructional practices than those with only a bachelor’s degree. This effectiveness frequently comes from professional growth or coursework provided during a field of study. Furthermore, the research of (Kishore Kumar & Priyadarshini, 2018), who studied important factors of self-efficacy and its relationship with life satisfaction and self-esteem – concerning Gen Y and Gen Z individuals, found that educational qualification failed to show considerable significance with self-efficacy.

Table 4. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Subject Taught of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between subject taught and instructional strategies, r_s = .01, p > .05, and classroom management, r_s = .04, p > .05. A negative and non-significant correlation was revealed between subject taught and student engagement, r_s = -.02, p > .05. The findings of this study imply that the subject taught has little or nothing to do with self-efficacy of the teacher respondents.

The result of the present study is in contrast with the study of  Alrefaei (2015) who studied the relationship between mathematics and science teacher’s efficacy beliefs in the three subscales of teachers’ efficacy (for classroom management, for student engagement, and instructional strategies) revealed a significant difference in teachers’ efficacy for two of the three constructs. The present study did not find a significant relationship between the subjects taught and the teacher’s self-efficacy.

Table 5. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Teaching Position of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between teaching positions and student engagement, r_s = .18, p > .05, instructional strategies, r_s = .13, p > .05, and classroom management, r_s = .12, p > .05. The findings of this study imply that the higher teaching position, the higher the self-efficacy.

The result of the study contradicts the study of Darkwah Odame (2023), who examined demographic variables as predictors of self-efficacy among university teachers in Ghana. The study found significant relationships between self-efficacy and gender, age, marital status, academic qualification, the nature of a university, academic discipline, years of teaching, and rank of university teachers.

Table 6. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Years of Teaching Experience of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and significant correlations between years of teaching experience and instructional strategies, rs = .32, p < .05, and classroom management, rs = .26, p < .05. A positive and non-significant correlation exists between years of teaching experience and student engagement, rs = .23, p < .05.

These suggest that teachers with more years of teaching experience tend to have higher self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. These findings support the existing literature about the relationship between years of teaching experience and a teacher’s self-efficacy. As the years of teaching experience increase, experience also increases which makes the teacher have greater self-efficacies. Educators older in age reported higher levels of self-efficacy with classroom management, an outcome that is consistent with the findings from a study conducted as cited by Cason (2018).

As applied to the framework of teacher self-efficacy of Bandura, one of the sources of self-efficacy is mastery experiences which are also referred to as enactive mastery experiences or performance accomplishments. As the teacher advances in the profession through the years, the teacher accumulates experience along the way. Mastery experiences are considered the strongest source of creating perseverant self-efficacy expectations (Bandura, 1997 as quoted by Lazarides et al., 2020).  The degree to which a person’s experiences increase their self-efficacy depends on a variety of variables, including preconceptions about their abilities, how difficult they perceive the task to be, how much effort they put in, whether they received outside assistance when success and failure occurred in the past, and how these variables are organized in their brains. Another source of self-efficacy that is demonstrated here is the vicarious experiences. This refers to the observation of a social model accomplishing a task, triggering social comparison processes. However, self-modeling, in which a person observes his or her task accomplishment, may also enhance personal self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 1986). According to Lazarides et al. (2020), it is crucial to distinguish between mastery experiences, which refer to one’s own direct and active experiences in a classroom situation rather than the observation of own behavior, and vicarious experiences, which refer to observations of (own) behaviors (e.g., observing own teaching behavior in class using classroom videography).

Table 7. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Teaching Hours of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

For correlations between the workload profile and self-efficacy, Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between teaching hours and student engagement, rs = .23, p > .05, instructional strategies, rs = .12, p > .05, and classroom management, rs = .10, p > .05.

The findings of this study suggest that teachers with higher teaching hours tend to have higher self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.

The implication of this finding for theory suggests that teaching hours should be viewed as an opportunity for the teachers to develop their self-efficacies. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the theoretical understanding that investing more time in teaching hours leads to improved teacher self-efficacy. However, it should be noted that according to the study of Matsushita & Yamamura (2022), long working hours were associated with stress responses in teachers. This can lead to decreased self-efficacy.

Table 8. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Planning Lessons of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank – order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between planning lessons and student engagement, rs = .06, p > .05, instructional strategies, rs = .10, p > .05, and classroom management, rs = .18, p > .05.

The study suggests that, although non-significant, there is a positive relationship that exists between planning lessons and a sense of self-efficacy. Teachers with higher planning lesson hours tend to have higher self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.

The implication of this finding for theory suggests that planning lessons allows the teacher to plan out what will happen during a learning session. Starting a class with a well-thought-out lesson plan makes the teacher more confident in delivering the lesson, hence the higher sense of self-efficacy. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the theoretical understanding that well-prepared lesson plans lead to better self-efficacies.

According to the study of Mitchell (2014), that studied increasing self-efficacy and quality lesson planning using lesson study with elementary preservice teachers, it was found that while not statistically significant, the treatment groups’ scores on the self-efficacy instrument increased more on average than the control groups’ scores. This provides an insight that planning lessons has a positive relationship with self-efficacy. Lesson planning engages teachers in a planning process. The teachers determine the lesson topic during this time which can give lesson objectives or desired results- the ideas and concepts that the learners must acquire and develop. It also helps the teachers plan the instructional strategies and activities they will use. In general, lesson planning provides a framework for instruction providing a roadmap of what has been taught and what needs to be taught (LINCS Access Resources for State Adult Education Staff). These are factors that increase teacher’s self-efficacy.

Table 9. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Marking / Correcting of Students’ Work of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between marking/correcting students’ work and student engagement, r_s = .02, p > .05, and classroom management, r_s = .13, p > .05. A negative and non-significant correlation was calculated between marking/correcting students’ work and instructional strategies, r_s = -.05, p > .05.

These suggest that the teachers who spend more time marking/correcting students’ work tend to have higher self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, and classroom management although the relationships were non-significant. It is worth noting that marking/correcting students’ work has a negative relation to the instructional strategy construct of a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. This implies that spending more time checking the work of the students results in lesser time planning out instructional strategies in a class session.

The implication of this finding for theory suggests a relationship between marking/correcting students’ work and teacher self-efficacies. From a practical standpoint, educators should manage the time allotted for marking/correcting students’ work. Teachers must be efficient and systematic knowing that marking/correcting students’ work is negatively related to the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy.

Marking/correcting students’ work provides an opportunity for the teacher to give feedback on how the learners perform. The main purpose of the feedback is to improve a student’s performance which is an important part of the teaching and learning process. Giving proper and effective feedback can make the teacher self-efficacy in a way that the teacher will contextualize his/her teaching strategies based on the result of the student’s performance.

Table 10. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Recording Student Performance of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Analysis using Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between recording student performance and student engagement, r_s = .14, p > .05, and instructional strategies, r_s = .06, p > .05. A negative and non-significant correlation was calculated between recording student performance and classroom management, r_s = -.04, p > .05.

These suggest that teachers with longer hours recording student performance tend to have higher self-efficacy in student engagement, and instructional strategies. However, recording student performance is negatively related to classroom management. This suggests that as the teacher spends more time on the students perform in the class, the lower is its relation to classroom management. This means that recording student performance provides feedback on how the learners learn from the learning session. The performance could be below acceptable level which could also affect the sense of self-efficacy of the teacher respondents in terms of classroom management.

Table 11. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Student Counselling of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Analysis using Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated a positive and non-significant correlation between student counseling and student engagement, r_s = .02, p > .05. Negative and non-significant correlations were calculated between marking/correcting students’ work and instructional strategies, r_s = -.03, p > .05, and classroom management, r_s = -.05, p > .05.

The implication of this finding for theory suggests that student counseling provides an opportunity for the teacher to learn more about the learners. During student counseling, the teacher will encounter the hidden factors behind the learners’ academic performance. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the theoretical understanding that student counselling leads to developed self-efficacies hence a positive correlation to student engagement. However, more student counseling hours can mean the class has disruptive behavior that needs the attention of the teacher. This can lead the teacher to believe that he is ineffective in terms of instructional strategy and classroom management since he cannot maintain order during classes.

Table 12. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between Staff Meetings of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated positive and non-significant correlations between staff meetings and student engagement, r_s = .02, p > .05, and classroom management, r_s = .00, p > .05. A negative and non-significant correlation was calculated between staff meetings and instructional strategies, r_s = -.03, p > .05.

This study suggests that staff meetings have little or nothing to do with student engagement and classroom management but negatively relate to instructional strategies. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the role of staff meetings in self-efficacies. From a practical standpoint, knowing that staff meetings are negatively related to self-efficacies, the agenda during staff meetings should be well-thought and concise as much as possible so as not to waste time.

According to (Whillans et al., 2018), attending too many meetings can be highly stressful and tiring, and both productivity and quality take a hit when employees tune out, become demotivated, and lose valuable heads-down work time. As a result, it should not come as a surprise that managers in one survey said 83% of the meetings on their calendars were useless, or that professionals rated meetings as the “number one office productivity killer.”

Table 13. Correlation Analysis Results on the Relationship between General Administrative Work of PNHS-Main SHS Teachers and Self-Efficacy in Student Engagement, Instructional Strategies, and Classroom Management

Spearman’s rank-order correlations indicated very weak negative and non-significant correlations between general administrative work, and self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, r_s = -.08, p > .05, instructional strategies, r_s = -.13, p >.05, and classroom management, r_s = -.16, p > .05.

These suggest that teachers spending longer hours in general administrative work tend to have lower self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the role of general administrative work in self-efficacies. From a practical standpoint, the general administrative work of the teachers should be minimized so as not to affect much the self-efficacies of the teachers.

Schools may benefit from reevaluating the internal workload expectations of their staff during times of high stress, as staff recovers from the previous two years, experience low staff numbers, and deal with interruptions to their teaching programs, as the workload is becoming an ever-increasing problem and challenge in education. According to Carroll et al. (2022), teachers complain about the volume of emails they receive, the communication outside of working hours, requests for tasks to be completed at the last minute, professional learning that seems unrelated to their subject matter, and the collection of unnecessary data, to name a few. In addition, many employees struggle personally. They may not only feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do, but they may also feel unprepared and unable to work effectively and efficiently manage their time.

CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS

The majority of the teacher-respondents are female, belong to the age bracket between 26-30 years old, Bachelor’s Degree holder, teach Technical-Vocational Livelihood, Teacher II, and have 1-3 years of teaching experience. Furthermore, the majority of the teacher-respondents spent 26-30 hours in teaching hours, spent 6-7 hours planning lessons, spent 3-5 hours in marking/correcting students’ work, spent 2-3 hours recording student performance, spent 2-3 hours in student counseling, spent 2-3 hours for staff meetings, and spent 2-3 hours doing general administrative work.

The overall median for self-efficacy in terms of student engagement of PNHS-Main SHS teachers was within the Quite A Bit range. This was also observed in the self-efficacies in terms of instructional strategies, and classroom management.

Among the demographic profiles cited in this study, age and years of teaching experience were significantly correlated with teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. Teaching hours, and planning lessons resulted in positive and not significant relationships for all three constructs of a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. Marking/correcting students’ work resulted in positive and non-significant relationships to teacher’s sense of self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, and classroom management. A negative and non-significant relationship existed to instructional strategies. Recording student performance resulted in positive and non-significant relationships to teacher’s sense of self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, and instructional strategies. A negative and non-significant relationship existed to classroom management. There was a positive and non-significant relationship between student counseling and teacher’s sense of self-efficacy in terms of student engagement. Negative and non-significant relationships existed between student counseling to instructional strategies and classroom management. Staff meetings gave positive and non-significant relationships to student engagement and classroom management. Staff meetings resulted in a negative and non-significant relationship to instructional strategies. General administrative work resulted in negative and non-significant relationships to teacher’s sense of self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.

There were limitations associated with this study.  This study did not investigate the effect of other potentially relevant variables such as organizational climate, teachers’ involvement in decision-making, parent/society involvement in school activities, and collective efficacy.

Implications

The correlation analysis in Table 1 between the sex and self-efficacies indicates a non-significant relationship in the given population. Since there is no significant relationship between the sex and the three constructs of self-efficacies, it can be said that learners learn regardless if the teacher is a male or a female.

The results from Table 2 signify those teachers with higher age tend to have higher self-efficacy in student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. These findings add to the existing literature that self-efficacy increases over time as revealed in the study of Jiao et al. (2021). This supports the idea that as age increases, the greater the self-efficacy. The person accumulates more experience as he advances in age. This is in line with Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory where experiences, mastery and vicarious experiences, interact with the behavior of the person along with personal factors.

The implications of the findings from Table 3 show a non-significant relationship between education level and self-efficacy suggesting that, although non-significant, the relationship that exists is positive. This means that as the education level of the teacher gets higher, the teacher’s self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies and classroom management tends to increase. This underscores the relevance of pursuing graduate studies to develop teacher’s self-efficacy.

The findings from Table 4 support the idea of specialization of teachers at the senior high school level. Since the teachers in the senior high school were given subject loads according to their specialization. As espoused by DepEd Order No. 3, Series of 2016 (Hiring Guidelines for Senior High School Teaching Positions Effective School Year 2016-2017), alignment of the specialization of teachers is given major consideration. This is also true with teaching positions.

As reflected in Table 5, the result of the study implies that, although non-significant, the relationship is positive which suggests that as the teaching position increases, the self-efficacy of the teacher respondents also increases. This is because for the teacher to be in a higher position or rank, he/she must display the necessary competencies and being efficient in the teaching job is a part of the criteria to be accepted in a higher position. These include experience in the teaching position, innovations made, and being enrolled in graduate studies which will enhance the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge. The study of Fox (2014) revealed that there is a strong correlation between teacher self-efficacy and pedagogical knowledge. The more pedagogical knowledge a teacher has, it is likely that the self-efficacy of the teacher will also be higher.

The results from the correlation between years of teaching experience and self-efficacies imply that higher years of teaching experience tend to have higher self-efficacies. As the teacher gets older in the profession through the years, the teacher builds experiences. This is in support of Bandura’s theory that mastery experiences are the strongest source of self-efficacy.

Teaching hours should be viewed as an opportunity for teachers to develop their self-efficacies. The results of the correlation from Table 7 provide empirical evidence supporting the theoretical understanding that investing more time in teaching hours leads to improved teacher self-efficacy. Just like years of teaching experience, teaching hours build the self-efficacies of teachers.

The study suggests that, although non-significant as can be gleaned from Table 8, there is a positive relationship that exists between planning lessons and a sense of self-efficacy. Teachers with higher planning lesson hours tend to have higher self-efficacy.  This is also the same with marking/correcting students’ work.

The results from Table 9 suggest that the teacher who spends more time marking/correcting students’ work tends to have higher self-efficacy in terms of student engagement, and classroom management although the relationships were non-significant.  It must be noted that the correlation between marking/correcting students’ work and self-efficacy in terms of instructional strategies is negative indicating the inverse relationship between the two variables.

Table 10 gives us the correlation between recording student performance and self-efficacy. The implication of this finding for theory suggests that recording student performance gives the teacher time for assessment of learning. Recording student performance serves as a feedback mechanism whether the learners are learning or not. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the theoretical understanding that recording student performance leads to developed self-efficacies in terms of student engagement and instructional strategies.

The implication of these findings from Table 11 could mean that more student counseling hours can mean the class has disruptive behavior that needs the attention of the teacher. This can lead the teacher to believe that he

is ineffective in terms of instructional strategy and classroom management since order is not maintained during classes. Table 12 gives a negative correlation between staff meetings and self-efficacy in terms of instructional strategies. Agendas during staff meetings should be well-thought and carried out so as not to negatively affect the self-efficacies of teachers.

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September 29, 2024

Dear RSIS International,

Greetings!

I am respectfully submitting my paper entitled, “The Interplay of Teachers’ Profile, Workload, and Self-Efficacy: A Correlational Study”. This paper has not been published elsewhere.

Your favorable response is highly appreciated.

Respectfully,

LYNDY G. PANTAO

Author