The relationship between professional development opportunities and teacher self-efficacy beliefs: a mixed-method hermeneutic phenomenology study

Self-efficacy is critical to teachers’ wellbeing and retention in the profession. Furthermore, teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs have a significant relationship with student outcomes. While substantial analytical attention has been given to identifying and understanding teacher self-efficacy, few studies have investigated the ways in which professional development can improve self-efficacy beliefs. This study examines the extent to which a particular form of teacher professional development, Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR), supports the growth of self-efficacy beliefs. Using hermeneutic phenomenology to ground this mixed-methods study, semi-structured interviews sought to understand the lived experience of six teachers, with varying teaching backgrounds, during participation in QTR. Most of these teachers participated in a series of three interviews over the course of a 12-month period. Elements of both Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology, and the framework and practice of the hermeneutic circle, were employed in the analysis of the interview data. Quantitative data sourced from a larger study in the form of survey responses to the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale supplemented the interview analysis, providing insight into the extent to which participation in QTR shaped teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Through its mixed-methods analysis of teachers’ lived experience of participation in QTR, this study provides significant new knowledge on how professional development can contribute to building self-efficacy by providing multiple forms of support for teachers. My analysis identifies specific features of professional development that nurture teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and, in turn, the quality of their teaching practice.