Evaluation of self-efficacy in prospective primary school teachers in the context of mathematics teaching

Abstract

Positive perception of one's efficacy among teachers is a crucial factor affecting the quality of the teaching process. Many research studies suggest that self-efficacy in prospective teachers can be acted upon. It is therefore very important to focus on the preparation of prospective teachers in the context of undergraduate courses. The objective of the research study was to identify the level of self-efficacy among primary pre-service teachers of mathematics. The research sample comprised 77 students of primary teacher training enrolled in two study programmes aged between 21 and 26 years. The results were obtained by means of a newly developed tool Self-Efficacy of Prospective Teachers in Mathematics (SEPTM), which contained 37 items. The results of the research suggest that prospective teachers assess their readiness for future mathematics teaching in a positive way and trust their own abilities to use various teaching methods and procedures.