Building and Maintaining Self-Efficacy Beliefs: A Study of Entry-Level Vocational Education and Training Teachers

Abstract

New vocational education and training (VET) teachers in Quebec (Canada), as in other countries (e.g., France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States), face specific challenges and experience an atypical process of entry into the teaching profession. In addition to the known professional induction challenges, which requires numerous adjustments in terms of organizational integration and socialization as well as on a personal level, new VET teachers also experience a major professional and identity transition: they shift from experts in their field to novices in the teaching field. Moreover, as they are not generally trained in pedagogy, new teachers must enroll in a mandatory teaching bachelor’s program once they are fully in charge of a class and its educational responsibilities. This complex process calls for a closer look at ways to facilitate their induction experience. Specifically, because it is closely related to motivation, engagement, and performance, this study focuses on their perceived self-efficacy as teachers. This study focused on 21 new VET teachers in the francophone province of Quebec, Canada, and aim to identify different strategies through which they succeeded in developing and maintaining their self-efficacy: strategies related to 1) the work of teaching, 2) mobilization of resources, 3) professional development, and 4) attitudes and well-being at work. These strategies allow us to gain a deeper understanding of previously unexplored aspects of the reality of these teachers, and to propose avenues for the development of interventions targeting their needs.