Social studies teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs: Do demographic characteristics make a difference

Abstract

While research exists on teacher self-efficacy beliefs, limited research is documented on the level of self-efficacy beliefs among Social Studies teachers, and much less in the senior high schools in the Central Region of Ghana. In view of this lacuna in the literature, this study investigated the level of self-efficacy beliefs among Social Studies teachers in senior high schools in Ghana using Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory as a theoretical foundation. The cross-sectional descriptive survey design within the positivist paradigm was used to collect data from 342 Social Studies teachers through a census sampling technique with a questionnaire as an instrument. With the aid of SPSS, descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics, such as independent samples t-test and one-way between-groups ANOVA, were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that Social Studies teachers had very high levels of self-efficacy beliefs. The findings also pointed out that demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and years of teaching experience statistically significantly influenced Social Studies teachers' levels of self-efficacy beliefs. Therefore, it was recommended that in rolling out refresher training and continuous professional development programs to sustain, improve, and strengthen the dimensions of self-efficacy beliefs identified in the study, Social Studies teachers' demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and years of teaching experience should be considered since they influenced their levels of self-efficacy beliefs.