TEACHER EFFICACY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

The study aims to find out the teacher efficacy of secondary school teachers. The sample for the present study consisted of 350 secondary teachers of Kerala. In this study the investigators used a teacher Efficacy scale to measure the teacher efficacy of secondary school teachers. The study reveals that secondary school teachers possess an average level of teacher efficacy and also that there exist significant difference in the mean scores of teacher efficacy with respect to type of management and teaching experience, but no significant difference exist in the mean scores of teacher efficacy with respect to Gender and locale and Subject of specialization.


Introduction
Education is the back bone of our society. Globally there is an overwhelming concern over the quality and relevance of education. Education plays a key role in molding, shaping, reforming and reconstructing the society from time to time. It facilitates realization of self-potential and talents of an individual. In education, this crucial and all pervasive role is played by the teachers. Teachers shape the destiny of children.
Teacher is the pivot of any educational system. The development of new generation is only possible through teachers. All committees and commissions have emphasized the importance of teachers and teacher educators. They have potential for enhancing the quality of education by bringing life to curriculum and inspiring students, making them curious and attempting selfdirected. Their commitment, efficacy and their work is hence highly relevant. They have potential for enhancing the quality of education by bringing life to curriculum and inspiring students, making them curious and attempting self-directed. Their commitment, efficacy and their work is hence highly relevant.

Objectives
The objectives set for the study are the following. 1) To find out the percentage of Secondary School teachers with different levels of Teacher Efficacy. 2) To find out whether there exist any significant difference in the mean scores of Teacher Efficacy of secondary school teachers with respect to a) Gender b) Locale c) Type of management d) Subject of specialisation e) Teaching experience

Method
In order to accomplish the objectives of the study normative survey method was adopted.

Sample for the Study
The present study was carried out on a sample of 350 secondary school teachers, drawn by stratified sampling method, giving due representation to factors like gender, locale, type of management subject of specialization and teaching experience.

Tool used for Investigation
For measuring the variables of the study, Teacher Efficacy Scale was prepared by the investigators((Seema & Sobha, 2013).
The scale consisted of six constructs viz,. Efficacy in instructional strategies, Efficacy in classroom management, Efficacy in participation in school activities, Efficacy in interpersonal relationship, Efficacy in self control, Efficacy in facing challenges. There were 64 statements in the five point scale constructed. For positive statements scores 5,4,3,2 and 1 were given for making responses viz., strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree respectively. Reverse scoring procedure was adopted in the case of negative statements. The reliability coefficient of the tool is 0.72 and Face validity was also ensured.

Procedure
After administering the tool to secondary school teachers the responses were scored carefully and subjected to statistical analysis. Percentage analysis, t test and ANOVA were the statistical Techniques used.

Results
Classification of secondary school teachers according to their teacher efficacy is given in Table  1. The table also contains the number and Percentage of secondary school teachers with different levels of teacher efficacy. To find out whether there is any significant difference in the mean scores of teacher efficacy of secondary school teachers with respect to gender, locale t test was used. Anova was used to find out the significant difference in the mean scores of teacher efficacy of secondary teachers with respect to of management, subject of specialisation and teaching experience.
i. Between Male and Female secondary school teachers.    From the above table it is evident that the t value 1.55 is not significant even at 0.05 levels. This indicates that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of Teacher Efficacy of secondary school teachers with respect to locale of schools. Thus it may be concluded that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of Teacher Efficacy of teachers from urban and rural schools.

iii. Between Subsamples based on type of management
Further analysis was done to find out whether there is any significant difference in the mean scores of teacher efficacy of secondary school teachers with respect to type of management. Summary of one way ANOVA for Teacher Efficacy of the subsamples based on type of management is presented in table-4  could be concluded that teachers from un-aided type of management possess high Teacher efficacy than the teachers from other type of management.

iv. Between Subsamples based on Subject of Specialisation
Summary of one way ANOVA for Teacher Efficacy of the subsamples based on subject is presented in table-6.

v. Between Subsamples based on teaching experience
Summary of one way ANOVA for Teacher Efficacy of the subsamples based on teaching experience is presented in table -7  From the above table it is clear that the mean scores of teachers having above 20 years of teaching experience is 264.44 which is significantly higher than that of below 10 years and 10 to 20 years of teaching experience. Thus it could be concluded that teachers having above 20 years of teaching experience possess high Teacher Efficacy than the teachers having teaching experience below 10 years and 10 to 20 years.

Conclusion
The study shows that Secondary school teachers possess Average level of Teacher Efficacy. Teacher Efficacy of secondary school teachers with respect to classificatory variables of gender, locale and subject of specialisation were not significantly different. But the study reveals that there exist significant difference in Teacher Efficacy of Secondary School Teachers with respect to type of management and teaching experience.