Investigating the role of self-efficacy in manipulating instructional textbooks: A matter of Iranian language teachers

Abstract

Guided by the research on the self-efficacy beliefs on the one hand and the works done on instructional materials evaluation and selection on the other, this study followed a two-fold purpose: first, examining teachers’ reactions towards prescribed textbooks and second, investigating relationships between such reactions and teachers’ sense of selfefficacy. Accordingly, 312 Iranian in-service high school English language teachers (N=312) were asked to respond to two scales: Self-Efficacy to Influence Instructional Textbooks (SEIIT) scale devised by the researchers according to the principles of Social Cognitive Theory and the 12-item Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001). The data analysis revealed acceptable psychometric properties of the newly developed scale and a degree of correlation between self-efficacy in teaching and in dealing with prescribed textbooks. The findings also provided a number of practical and theoretical implications.