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Science teaching self-efficacy of culturally foreign teachers:A baseline study in Abu Dhabi

Merryn McKinnon a,*, Jase Moussa-Inaty b, Lydia Barza b

a Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, The Australian National University, Physics Link Building 38a, Acton, Canberra, ACT 0200,

Australiab Zayed University, College of Education, PO Box 144534, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

1. Introduction

Teaching is an increasingly global profession, as the international school movement grows in response to an everexpanding expatriate market world wide (McNamara, Lewis, & Howson, 2004). Shortages of teachers in countries such as theUnited Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and Australia have helped to drive the demand for foreign trained, or supply,teachers (Cruickshank, 2004) as has the demand for teachers of English worldwide (McNamara et al., 2004). Theeffectiveness of supply teachers may be influenced by a variety of factors.

Self-efficacy beliefs are strong predictors of behaviour as they can describe how individuals may take on challenges,overcome obstacles and respond to uncertainty (Bandura, 1997). The concept of self-efficacy has been widely explored in theliterature, however few studies have examined how cultural factors influence motivational beliefs (Klassen, Bong, et al.,2009; Klassen, Foster, Rajani, & Bowman, 2009). For example, some scholars have expressed concerns about professionalisolation between more permanent teachers and the supply teacher (McNamara et al., 2004; Shilling, 1991) which may haveimplications for teacher effectiveness. Despite the obvious relationship between beliefs and an individual’s ability to adjustto new, potentially challenging circumstances (Tsang, 2001), there is a gap in the literature regarding the self-efficacy ofindividuals working in a culturally foreign environment. The construct of self-efficacy is context specific (Bandura, 1997),and although self-efficacy in one context could be related to self-efficacy in another, examinations of self-efficacy must betailored to the specific area of interest in order to obtain meaningful results (Peterson, Milstein, Chen, & Nakazawa, 2011).

International Journal of Educational Research 66 (2014) 78–89

A R T I C L E I N F O

Article history:

Received 5 August 2013

Received in revised form 19 March 2014

Accepted 31 March 2014

Available online 8 May 2014

Keywords:

Primary school

Science education

Teacher self-efficacy

United Arab Emirates

A B S T R A C T

This study focuses on the self-efficacy of teachers working in a culturally foreign

environment. The research presented describes an exploratory study examining the

science teaching efficacy beliefs of culturally foreign teachers in Abu Dhabi’s primary

schools, private and public. A standardized teacher self-efficacy instrument (STEBI A)

specific to science education was used to collect data on teachers’ perceptions of their

strengths and weaknesses in the area of science education. Results showed a much lower

sense of self-efficacy in comparison to other studies elsewhere in the world, and indicate

cultural adaptation – both personal and professional – may influence teaching efficacy of

beginning and experienced teachers. Self-efficacy of teachers working within a culturally

different environment is an underexplored field and is worthy of future research.

� 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 6125 4951; fax: +61 2 6125 8991.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. McKinnon), [email protected] (J. Moussa-Inaty), [email protected] (L. Barza).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Educational Research

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Thus, these beliefs could be particularly revealing (see Ferguson, 2011) about how teachers adapt within their foreignteaching context.

Internationally, research is focussing on ways to improve science teaching in primary schools to enhance studentengagement in the sciences (Osborne & Dillon, 2008; Palmer, 2007; Tytler, 2003; Varley, Murphy, & Veale, 2008). Scienceteaching self-efficacy beliefs have been explored in the science education literature for the last two decades (van Aalderen-Smeets, Walma van der Molen, & Asma, 2012). However, there is little research to date that examines the science teachingself-efficacy of supply teachers and teachers’ beliefs about teaching students from different cultures (Settlage, Southerland,Smith, & Ceglie, 2009). An examination of how well these foreign teachers adapt to a novel culture and environment,particularly to their own school and classroom, is needed to help map the international teaching terrain (Ferguson, 2011).This paper will begin to address this gap using Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as a case study.

The UAE has undergone rapid transformation since its Federation in 1971 and the discovery of petroleum resources. Intwenty years it transformed from one of the least developed and poorest nations to one with some of the highest per capitaincomes in the world (el Mallakh, 1981). Now, more than 40 years after federation, the UAE has a heavy reliance on importedlabour, with expatriates (non-Emiratis) comprising 85% of its workforce, and about 80% of the total country population(Australian Government, 2013). This has had an impact on the education system of the UAE. The number of privateeducational institutions has risen tremendously over the years in order to meet the increasing demand caused by theincrease of expatriates – and this necessitated hiring supply teachers from abroad (McKinnon, Barza, & Moussa-Inaty, 2013).

This paper will begin by examining the importance of science engagement internationally, particularly for developingcountries. This is followed by a brief review of the literature on teacher efficacy and science education, which will furtherhighlight the significance of the inquiry. It will then discuss the role of supply teachers in these developing countries, withparticular focus on cultural effectiveness. A general overview of science education in Abu Dhabi is provided in order tocontextualize the results of the study. The paper concludes with implications for recruiters of supply teachers and teachertrainers. Recommendations for practical steps to enhance teachers’ adaptations to culturally foreign settings, ultimatelyenhancing teacher satisfaction and student outcomes, are also provided.

1.1. Aim and scope

The aim of this preliminary research is to examine the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of supply teachers working inAbu Dhabi’s primary schools. Both public and private schools are used to ensure the broadest possible representation ofteachers in the different school contexts. The findings from this research will add to a paucity of literature about the self-efficacy beliefs of foreign teachers, despite the clearly established links between self-efficacy, cross cultural adjustment andsubsequent job performance in other fields (see for example Tsang, 2001). Science has been chosen to provide a simplesnapshot – based on a well established and validated measure – for this exploratory case study. These findings will informboth national (UAE) and international educational systems reliant on supply teachers about the additional support theyrequire to facilitate their cultural adjustment and will identify areas for further research.

2. Research method

2.1. Participants

Seven public schools and nine private international schools, yielding a combined total of 114 teachers, consented toparticipate in this study. Respondents were teachers in the primary years (grades 1–5). The majority of teachers in bothprivate and public schools were Westerners, predominantly from the UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and NewZealand. To ensure anonymity a breakdown of the numbers of each group will not be provided.

2.2. Procedures

A complete list of primary schools was obtained from the Abu Dhabi Educational Zone (ADEZ). Any public or privateschool that taught grades one to five was eligible for inclusion in the study. Schools were contacted by telephone and invitedto participate in the study. Of the schools that expressed an interest in participating, the school principal or the sciencecoordinator was nominated as the liaison between the school and the researchers. The liaison in each school was sent a letterof invitation via email that outlined the purpose of the survey, requirements of participants, and contact details of theprincipal researchers and the head of the University Ethics Committee. Once permission to participate had been granted, theresearchers then either emailed or gave hard copies of the surveys and consent forms to the liaison to distribute to allteachers of science in years one to five, which were collected one week later.

2.3. Instrumentation and data analyses

2.3.1. Science teaching self-efficacy belief instrument

The Science Teaching Self-Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI A – Riggs & Enochs, 1990) was used for this study as it is avalidated instrument specific to science teaching. The context specificity of the instrument makes it a more appropriatemeasure for the purposes of this exploratory case study (Peterson et al., 2011).

M. McKinnon et al. / International Journal of Educational Research 66 (2014) 78–89 79


The STEBI A is comprised of 25 items, and requires the teacher respondent to indicate their level of agreement with thestatement provided on a five point Likert scale. The 25 items of the STEBI A form two internal scales – personal scienceteaching efficacy belief (PSTE – 13 items) and science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE – 12 items). These two scalesdenote the relationship of the instrument to Bandura’s two factor theory of efficacy (Bleicher, 2004) which are efficacyexpectation and outcome expectancy. Each scale yields a score, providing an indication of efficacy belief for PSTE and STOE.The range of scores for the PSTE scale is 13–65, and the range for the STOE scale is 12–60. The validity (Riggs & Enochs, 1990)and reliability (de Laat & Watters, 1995; Ramey-Gassert, 1994) of these two scales has been examined in prior researchwithin a range of contexts including subject specificity (Enochs, Smith, & Huinker, 2000) and in different languages(Andersen, Dragsted, Evans, & Sorenson, 2003; Park, 1996). The STEBI A is one of the most extensively tested and usedinstruments to measure science teaching self-efficacy, and has been validated for use with the majority of nationalities ofthis study’s participants (see for example Ginns et al., 1995), rendering it an appropriate tool to use in this particular study.

In order to statistically analyze the surveys, the IBM SPSS Statistics software was used. Surveys were initially analyzed forinternal reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. Riggs and Enochs (1990) recorded alpha values of 0.92 for the PSTE and 0.77 forthe STOE scales. The alpha values calculated for this current study were 0.86 for the PSTE and 0.60 for the STOE. Robinson,Shaver and Wrightsman (1991) set a generally applied minimum threshold for an item to be included in the STEBI analysiswhich is a corrected item-total correlation value of 0.3. Examination of the PSTE scale found all item except for item numbertwo had corrected item-total correlations above 0.3. The removal of item two increased the alpha to 0.87, which indicates agood level of instrument reliability. The STOE scale was more problematic as many of the items had corrected item-totalcorrelation values of less than 0.3. Exclusion of all of these items would have had a negligible effect; only the removal of item20 would increase the alpha. Item 20 was thus excluded and the alpha recalculated, giving a value of 0.61, which isacceptable (George & Mallery, 2003) but does indicate a limitation in analysis strength.

The exclusion of the single items from both the scales altered the range for the PSTE scores from 13–65 to 12–60, and therange of STOE scores from 12–60 to 11–55.

2.3.2. General demographic survey

A general survey asked teachers for basic demographic information such as age and gender, number of years of teachingexperience, and the number of science subjects they had completed during their teaching qualification. Data entry wascompleted by one of the researchers only, and the entered data cross-checked against the hard copy surveys by all of theresearchers.

3. Theory

3.1. Student engagement in science: developed versus developing countries

By the time students reach secondary school, many have already excluded science from their subject choices (Osborne &Dillon, 2008). The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey, a comparative study conducted with 15 year old studentsinternationally, showed that children from developed countries were less likely to want careers in these fields compared totheir counterparts in developing countries (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2005). This trend continued from 2005 to 2010 withstudents in wealthy countries, particularly girls, being the least enthusiastic about wanting to study science in school incomparison to both genders in developing countries (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2010).

A possible explanation for this could be the nature of the topics in science curricula and textbooks. The ROSE studyshowed that the typical curriculum was seen as less interesting by students in developed countries, especially Nordic andJapanese students (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2010). These findings were echoed in a comparative study of students in Ireland, theUK and Australia which found that although students were largely enthusiastic about learning science, they did not seem torelate their learning to life beyond school (Varley et al., 2008). The same appears true in the UAE as evidenced by its relianceon foreign labour for positions in science fields due to a shortage of qualified Emiratis (Al Kibsi, Benker, & Schuber, 2007).Further, student engagement in science is heavily dependent upon the teacher (Holstermann, Grube, & Bogeholz, 2010;Perera & Stocklmayer, 2013). Therefore, teachers’ beliefs about science and science teaching are integral to understandingstudent attitudes towards science.

3.2. Supply teachers

Teacher shortage is experienced by both developed and developing countries, and a common strategy for both is toimport teachers from elsewhere to fill the gap (McNamara et al., 2004). The population structure of developing countriesoften shows a ‘‘youth bulge’’ (Johnson et al., 2012, p. 258) which subsequently places greater demand on the educationsystem. As some developing countries ‘‘attempt to increase the access to schooling, the growth in the number of school-agedchildren has outpaced the growth in the number of teachers in most of these countries’’ (Cooper & Alvarado, 2006, p. 15)necessitating the recruitment of foreign teachers.

Globalisation has allowed greater mobility for people seeking opportunities abroad, blurring the lines that traditionallyseparated different countries and cultures (Kambutu & Nganga, 2008). Many overseas teachers are employed as supplyteachers, often motivated by the chance of improved financial prospects and greater flexibility (de Villiers, 2007).

M. McKinnon et al. / International Journal of Educational Research 66 (2014) 78–8980


Other benefits include opportunities to travel, gaining experience in different education systems and exploring new cultures(de Villiers, 2007; McNamara et al., 2004). The host country also benefits, not only from receiving a much-needed teacher inareas of shortage (Cruickshank, 2004), but through providing students with an appreciation of cultural diversity, globalperspectives and respect for all cultures (Bernardo & Malakolunthu, 2013).

There is the misconception however, that supply teaching is easy and any qualified teacher will be able to teach in anyschool (McNamara et al., 2004). For many teachers who are experienced and have been exposed to diverse learners, thisindeed could be the case. However any teacher who travels abroad may be faced with ‘‘enormous cultural challenges’’(Ferguson, 2011, p. 26); may find the experience demanding and lonely (McNamara et al., 2004); and may find studentbehaviour and the curriculum to be completely foreign and confronting (Cruickshank, 2004). These challenges may impact ateacher’s self-beliefs. A study of overseas trained teachers working in the UK found that teachers believed the students to beboth the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of the job (McNamara et al., 2004).

As the prevalence of multicultural classrooms and schools increases internationally (Settlage et al., 2009), multiculturaleducation is a growing field of research (Bernardo & Malakolunthu, 2013). However, there is very little research that has beenconducted on teachers’ beliefs in their ability to teach children from different cultures (Settlage et al., 2009) or their ability toadapt to living and working within a different cultural environment. This is an important area to examine as ‘‘beingimmersed in a culture that is not one’s own, provides an experience that is rife with communication challenges, as well asopportunities for personal growth’’ (Peterson et al., 2011, p. 290).

3.3. Teachers’ self efficacy and science education

Self-efficacy is grounded in Albert Bandura’s theory on social learning. Bandura (1977) postulated that there are twocentral parts of self-efficacy: an individual’s belief in their ability to achieve a desired behaviour (efficacy expectation); andtheir belief that the achievement of the desired behaviour will lead to a desirable outcome (outcome expectancy). Behaviourthen, ‘‘is better predicted by one’s beliefs regarding one’s capabilities. . .than by the reality of what one is actually capable ofdoing’’ (Peterson et al., 2011, p. 292).

Numerous studies have examined the influence of different factors on teacher self-efficacy, such as previous scienceexperiences (Hanuscin, Akerson, & Phillipson-Mower, 2006), science methods courses during university teacher training(Palmer, 2006), mentors (Luft, 2007) and continuing professional development (McKinnon and Lamberts, 2014; Desimone,Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002). However, the majority of these studies have been conducted in Western countries,particularly the US and UK (Bayraktar, 2011). There are studies that have examined the applicability of self-efficacy studies innon-Western settings. A study compared teachers in Canada, Cyprus, Korea, Singapore and the United Kingdom using theTeachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001). The authors of this studyconcluded that teachers’ ‘‘beliefs about personal capabilities to teach appear to operate in similar ways across a diverse rangeof countries. . .[and] appears to function in the same way across borders’’ (Klassen, Bong, et al., 2009; Klassen, Foster, et al.,2009, p. 75).

Other literature did use the STEBI A in non-native English speaking cultures, but these teachers were still operating withina familiar cultural context. A study of 282 Taiwanese primary teachers and their view of science teaching self-efficacy foundthat the greatest influence on their efficacy beliefs was the number of years of science teaching experience they had (Brady,Chia-Ju, & Houn-Lin, 2008). Teachers with more than ten years of experience tended to score higher on both PSTE and STOEscales than those with less. Brady et al. (2008) do acknowledge that this does contradict the findings of others, specificallyDesouza, Boone and Yilmaz (2004), who found in their study of over 300 Indian primary teachers, working within India, thatthose with a greater number of years of teaching experience tended to have lower levels of self-efficacy in science teaching.The teachers in Desouza et al.’s (2004) study taught grades 1–5. They taught science as well as other core subjects, and alsotypically had a large number (25–30) of multilingual students in their classrooms. Therefore, Desouza et al. (2004) appears tobe the only study with classrooms comparable to those of teachers working in the UAE as presented here.

There appears to be no research on the science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of culturally foreign teachers. A study by thefirst author (McKinnon and Lamberts, 2014) found teachers who worked in different educational contexts tended to exhibitlower science teaching self-efficacy beliefs. However, these were two teachers in a larger sample and their educationalcontext was coincidental, and not the focus of that study. Therefore this is indicative rather than conclusive, and requiresfurther examination. The only other study which appears to examine culturally foreign teachers is based within the Yukonterritory in Canada’s north (Klassen, Bong, et al., 2009; Klassen, Foster, et al., 2009). Teachers were typically Euro-Canadianand their students were of First Nations heritage. The focus of Klassen et al.’s study was more on the cultural transitions beingmade by the students, parents and the communities however these cultural aspects were found to increase ‘‘the challengesand stress inherent in teaching in the North’’ (2009, p. 392). The authors of this study conclude that teachers in ‘remotesettings’ may have lower levels of self-efficacy beliefs (Klassen, Bong, et al., 2009; Klassen, Foster, et al., 2009). Thisremoteness could be geographical or cultural, and thus the potential influence warrants further examination.

There are studies which indicate that self-efficacy beliefs could be shaped by cultural values (Lin, Gorrell, & Taylor, 2002),and that past experiences determine beliefs about one’s ability to successfully adapt cross-culturally (Harrison, Chadwick, &Scales, 1996). This latter finding pertained to general self-efficacy, and the authors acknowledged that ‘‘scales of perceivedself-efficacy must be tailored to the particular domain of functioning that is the object of interest’’ (Harrison et al., 1996, p.295), further justifying the specific examination of science teaching self-efficacy in this study. Overall there are very few



studies that explore the influence of social, cultural and environmental factors on teachers’ beliefs (Klassen, Bong, et al.,2009; Klassen, Foster, et al., 2009), a gap which this paper attempts to address.

3.4. Cultural adjustment and self-efficacy

Research into teachers’ cross-cultural adaptive capabilities is limited (Cruickshank, 2004; Ferguson, 2011), howeverresearch on cultural adjustment self efficacy in the business and military fields is more progressive and relevant to teachersworking in a foreign culture. As Rehg, Gundlack, and Grigorian (2012) state:

Although the context differs. . .knowledge and understanding of the behaviour of other cultures takes place at anindividual level. Thus, we can explore. . .the functioning of individuals across cultures regardless of what context theyoperate in, while the manifestation of that knowledge and understanding may differ operationally (p. 216).

Irrespective of occupation, the effectiveness of an individual working in a foreign culture is largely determined by theirability to appropriately adjust their behaviour to fit their new cultural context (Harrison et al., 1996). Those that can adjustare effective employees. Those that cannot are typically ineffective, and often return to their home country prematurely(Black & Mendendahll, 1989). Therefore, we argue that examining the self-efficacy beliefs of teachers working in a culturallyforeign environment could provide an indication of their ability to adapt to a different context. This is an important area toexamine for teacher recruiters in particular as they determine which individuals to hire for schools in dire need of staff.Further, using science teaching self-efficacy beliefs provides an indication of how teachers may behave in the classroom(Gencer & Cakiroglu, 2007).

Teachers who are culturally responsive are increasingly desirable in schools internationally (Bernardo & Malakolunthu,2013; Kambutu & Nganga, 2008; Settlage et al., 2009). When there is a large disparity between the cultural backgrounds ofteachers and students, then teachers may have low expectations and use inappropriate teaching strategies (Cooper &Alvarado, 2006). In contrast, a culturally responsive teacher is able to recognize ‘‘the link between culture and the manner inwhich people interact with each other’’ (Kambutu & Nganga, 2008, p. 941) and thereby adopt appropriate teaching methodsor ‘‘intercultural competencies’’ (Bernardo & Malakolunthu, 2013, p. 64). Some researchers advocate for incorporating crosscultural skills and experiences into teacher preparation programmes (Hilliard, 1998; Kambutu & Nganga, 2008). However, asFerguson (2011) states, it takes more than culturally appropriate pedagogy to make a good culturally responsive teacher.This supports the position held by Siwatu (2007) who argues that although the inclusion of cross cultural experience wouldpotentially create culturally competent teachers, it still would not provide an accurate indication of their future behaviour inthe classroom. Self-efficacy, however, does provide this accurate indication (Gencer & Cakiroglu, 2007). Thus, this paperlooks at science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of supply teachers, using Abu Dhabi as the case study.

3.5. Overview of Abu Dhabi’s educational system

Schools in Abu Dhabi tend to attract a mix of beginning and more experienced teachers, from a range of differentnationalities, training programmes and cultures. Previous studies have examined the efficacy beliefs of English ForeignLanguage teachers within their own ‘home’ culture (see for example Atay, 2007), but this is the first study of science teachingself-efficacy of teachers in a culturally foreign context, specifically within the UAE.

To gain employment as a primary teacher within the Abu Dhabi Emirate, prospective teachers should be highly qualifiedwith a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education preferred or a Bachelor’s Degree in Education at theprimary level. They must also have ‘‘an acceptable standard of proficiency in the English language’’ (Al Abed, Vine, Hellyer, &Vine, 2008, p. 233). This criterion is, at least in part, the reason why culturally foreign teachers are recruited. Throughout theUAE there are more than 400 English language medium schools (ISC Research, 2013), many of which are in Abu Dhabi. As anindicator of standard proficiency, an International English Language Test Score (IELTS) of six is the minimum requirement(IELTS, 2013). Teachers are also expected to undertake professional development and training throughout the school year (AlAbed et al., 2008).

There are about 450 schools throughout Abu Dhabi emirate; approximately 265 public, and 185 private schools (ADEC,n.d.-a, n.d.-b). Public schools typically cater to Emirati students only, and employ about 14,000 teachers from more than30 countries, the majority (60%) of whom are Emirati nationals (Badri et al., 2011). Thus the student body is fairlyculturally uniform, however the teaching staff is quite culturally diverse. Even when the country culture is similar to ateachers’ home culture, teachers would still need to ‘‘adjust to the host institutional environment that can differ by a greatdeal from that of his or her home country’’ (Tsang, 2001, p. 365). Private schools cater to approximately 200,000 studentsof different nationalities, including about 50,000 Emiratis (ADEC, n.d.-a). Half of the teaching workforce in Abu Dhabi isemployed in private schools (Badri et al., 2011). Teachers in private schools are not only in a culturally foreign settingthemselves, but many of their expatriate students are as well. This creates myriad challenges for teachers attempting toadapt themselves to a culturally different environment, while also trying to meet the needs of a very diverse classroomand student body.

Abu Dhabi’s public schools have been at the centre of a reform agenda to elevate student performance and educationdelivery to international standards. This reform effort spans all areas of education from the physical environment andresources, curriculum, assessment, teaching methods, to health and wellbeing. A key element of change has been the



language of instruction. The language of instruction in primary schools operating under the reform effort, called the NewSchool Model (NSM), differs by subject area. The teachers recruited to teach science and mathematics in Abu Dhabi’s publicprimary schools in the last two years are mostly native English speakers (Badri et al., 2011) and are now all expected to teachmathematics and science in English rather than Arabic. Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has also placed more emphasison science as a subject area, increasing the teaching time and investing more resources (Badri et al., 2011). As statedpreviously, both public and private schools were included in this study to provide a broader overview of supply teachers’science teaching self-efficacy from all available contexts.

4. Results

4.1. Participant demographics

Of the 114 participants, 31 were from public schools and 83 were from private schools. For each of these groups, themajority was between 27 and 32 years of age, with the next most common age being the group from 33 to 38 years (Table 1).The majority of participants (about 70%) were from private schools. For both private and public schools, the majority ofrespondents had between four and six years of teaching experience (Table 1). Beginning teachers with between one andthree years of experience were more commonly found in the private schools. The next most common level of teachingexperience in public schools was 10–14 years.

4.2. Self-efficacy results

The STEBI results show very low means on both self-efficacy scales for all respondents (Table 2).Comparing the PSTE and STOE scale scores against the amount of teaching experience showed that participants with less

than a year of teaching had the lowest average PSTE score (20), while teachers with between one and three years of teaching

Table 1

Age and teaching experience of respondents, comparing between public and

private schools.

Age Public Private

21–26 3 9

27–32 12 37

33–38 6 14

39–44 2 10

45–50 4 5

51–56 2 5

57–62 1 3

Missing 0 1

Experience

<1 1 3

1–3 2 15

4–6 12 26

7–9 4 14

10–14 6 12

15–20 3 6

20+ 3 6

Missing 0 1

Table 2

Results for STEBI scales overall and comparing respondent groups based on school type and then teaching experience.

Respondent group N PSTE mean PSTE range STOE mean STOE range

All groups 114a 24.84 13–47 29.43 13–40

Public school 31 29.49 14–47 20.09 19–39

Private school 83 26.02 13–38 20.22 13–40

<1 yr experience 4 20.00 16–24 31.25 27–39

1–3 yrs exp 17 26.82 20–38 25.88 13–33

4–6 yrs exp 38 25.13 13–42 30.26 22–38

7–9 yrs exp 18 23.61 18–32 28.28 21–35

10–14 yrs exp 18 24.06 13–47 29.89 21–37

15–20 yrs exp 9 23.78 15–29 31.56 24–40

20+ yrs exp 9 26.67 16–45 31.11 23–38

a One respondent did not answer the teaching experience question; overall n for teaching experience = 113.



held the highest average score (26.82), only marginally higher than those with over 20 years of experience (26.67 – seeFig. 1). Conversely, the least experienced respondents had one of the highest average STOE scores (31.25), whereas theteachers in the one to three years of experience category returned the lowest average STOE score (25.88).

Respondents were asked if they had studied science subjects during their teacher qualification, or held any science relatedqualifications (like a science degree). Previous science experience beyond the high school level was common, with 61.4% ofrespondents indicating they had more advanced education in science. Fig. 2 shows the breakdown of the school type,experience levels and further science education of the participants. Across all experience levels, those with less than 10 yearsof experience were more likely to have studied some science, with respondents from private schools with six years or less ofexperience the most likely. More experienced teachers (15 or more years) were less likely to have studied science overall.

Comparing science education levels of teachers in different school types showed 64.52% of public school and 59.04% ofprivate school respondents had further science education. The average STEBI scores were compared between thoseparticipants who had further science education and those who did not. The PSTE scores were slightly higher for thoseparticipants without further science education (26.40) in comparison to those with (24.03) but a t-test showed that thisdifference was not statistically significant. The STOE scores were similar across both groups: those with further scienceeducation had an average of 29.59 and those without of 29.18.

Fig. 1. Comparison of average PSTE and STOE scores between experience levels.

Fig. 2. Comparison of length of teaching experience and formal science study in all respondents.



5. Discussion

Results showed generally low STEBI scores for all participants, especially in comparison to the means of PSTE scoresreturned in other studies. For example in his study with 12 Australian in-service teachers, Palmer (2011) yielded an initialmean PSTE score of 44 for his participant cohort. Author 1 (2014) found initial PSTE and STOE means of 46.58 and 33.51,respectively, also with Australian teachers. The seminal study by Enochs and Riggs (1990) with American teachers hadsimilar means to these studies, with a larger participant cohort. A search of the literature did not find any studies using theSTEBI to examine the self-efficacy of teachers working in a culturally foreign context. Very few studies appear to publish themeans of the STEBI scales, which limits the number of direct comparisons that can be drawn here. From the availableevidence, the teachers in this current study appear to have lower than expected self-efficacy levels in comparison tocounterparts working in culturally familiar settings. This echoes the findings of Klassen, Bong, et al. (2009) and Klassen,Foster, et al. (2009) who found that ‘isolated’ teachers had lower self-efficacy beliefs. This isolation referred to a geographicalsetting, however the participants in that study were also of a different cultural background to their students, which theauthors identified as an often-overlooked influence. This leads to several possible conclusions regarding the foreign teachers’science teaching self-efficacy beliefs and cultural adjustment in this context.

5.1. The teaching environment

One possible reason for the lower mean self-efficacy scores could be related to the teaching environment itself. Theclassrooms in Abu Dhabi are culturally diverse, bringing a range of different language abilities and cultural expectations.According to Flores et al. ‘‘while teachers may have a positive teaching efficacy about teaching in a particular content area,they may not have similar efficacy beliefs about teaching that content to diverse learners’’ (2010, p. 141). The low meanscores shown here may reflect this assertion. It is possible that it is not the science content, but the classroom context that isinfluencing teachers’ confidence.

The mix of student nationalities and language abilities within a classroom could be one influence on participants’ self-efficacy. The closest comparable study which supports this notion is that of Desouza et al. (2004), who described classroomscharacterized by multilingual students and teachers who teach all core curriculum areas, not just science. Other studies inthe UAE have found that English language proficiency, in both teachers and students, was a challenge and a potential barrierto effective science instruction (McKinnon et al., 2013). This was not explicitly examined here, making this conjecture ratherthan conclusion, however we recommend further examination of this in future studies.

Many of the students in Abu Dhabi’s schools are from developed countries, and the UAE itself is a rapidly developingcountry. Thus, there would be a mix of interest levels and prior experience with science in each classroom. Sjøberg andSchreiner (2010) assert that student disinterest in science could be ‘‘context dependent – and growing with level ofdevelopment’’ (p. 19). Therefore, those students from developed countries may be less interested in science than those fromdeveloping countries where science is a means for economic development (Bøe, Henriksen, Lyons, & Schreiner, 2011). Thiscould negatively influence a teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy as they try to meet the diverse needs of students in theirclass from both pedagogical and cultural perspectives.

5.2. Number of years of science teaching experience

The findings of our study seem to reflect the findings of Desouza et al. (2004), as those with between one and threeyears of experience had the highest PSTE, followed by those with more than 20 years. Those teachers with less than oneyear of experience had the lowest PSTE, however, they had the highest mean STOE score. This is similar to the findings ofShahid and Thompson (2001, April) who found that outcome expectancy decreases when personal self-efficacyincreases. McKinnon and Lamberts (2014) show similar results, with a decrease in PSTE coupled with an increase inSTOE. One potential argument for this is that outcome expectancies may lag behind, and be causally preceded bypersonal efficacies (Bandura, 1997; Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998), and the two scales may not beobservable in correlation (Lakshmanan, Heath, Perlmutter, & Elder, 2011). There are a range of studies that haveexamined the relationship between teaching experience and self-efficacy, which have not produced a clearunderstanding of how these two variables are related to each other (Karimvand, 2011). This study has not identifieda clear relationship either, but has possibly identified avenues that warrant further investigation in order to betterunderstand influences on efficacy beliefs.

5.3. Science background

In the UAE primary school teachers are not subject experts as they teach other core subjects and are mainly homeroomteachers. Looking at the demographics of the participants in this study, the majority had between four and six years ofteaching experience within a curriculum structure that requires generalist knowledge across core subjects. Even thosebrought into public schools specifically to teach science are not necessarily science specialists; 35% of public schoolrespondents do not have any science background. Those participants with less than ten years of experience generally hadmore science education than their more experienced colleagues; likely a reflection of the changing nature of teacher



preparation programmes. Irrespective, the extra science background was not a significant influence on science teaching self-efficacy.

5.4. Implications for teacher education and professional development

Increasing self-efficacy of individuals to adapt to culturally foreign settings has been recommended as a means ofimproving the effectiveness of international recruitment, and of induction programmes in non-educational settings(Harrison et al., 1996; Rehg et al., 2012); the same would appear true for supply teachers. This is supported by Klassen, Bong,et al. (2009) who concluded that teachers with higher levels of self-efficacy ‘‘experience greater job satisfaction in a widevariety of school and national settings’’ (p. 75). Cultural training has been shown to positively affect self-efficacy beliefs(Bandura, 1997). Offering an induction programme for foreign recruited teachers could have multiple benefits. de Villiers(2007) echoes this assertion, arguing that a comprehensive induction programme would ‘‘lead to greater productivity inschools’’ (p. 73).

For many supply teachers, the new cultural experiences are some of the most rewarding aspects of their job (McNamaraet al., 2004). Therefore, it could be argued that incorporating the new cultural aspects into initial induction and professionaldevelopment programmes would help provide the necessary context, and be a positive experience for the foreign teacher.Training should link science content to the local culture in ways that can motivate teachers to adapt their teaching to be moreculturally responsive. Induction and professional development programmes which allow culturally foreign teachers to seeand experience methods that successfully engage their students to help them see ‘‘the reality not the idealized version’’(Cruickshank, 2004, p. 132) are recommended.

This study shows that self-efficacy of culturally foreign teachers is lower than comparable international means for thoseteaching in familiar contexts, which may be explained partly by a culturally, linguistically, academically, andsocioeconomically diverse teaching environment. This is true for teachers in both private and public schools whichinclude large numbers of children of expatriate workers. Culturally appropriate teaching needs to be coupled with flexibleteaching practices and behaviours that seek to reach each child (Ginsberg, 2005). Therefore, how supply teachers may bebetter equipped to confront this diversity must be addressed through training in cultural responsiveness and differentiatedinstruction. Differentiation is traditionally associated with inclusion of special needs children. However, a more progressiveparadigm for what it means to differentiate in a classroom involves a consideration of all areas of diversity that may impactthe teaching and learning process (Santamaria, 2009).

Relatedly, a mentoring programme is one means of maximizing the positive impacts of an induction plan (Cooper &Alvarado, 2006). The use of mentors is commonly suggested as a means of support and development for both beginning (Luft,2007; So & Watkins, 2005; Watson, Steele, Vozzo, & Aubusson, 2007) and experienced teachers (Penlington, 2008). Theeffectiveness of such mentoring programmes with culturally foreign teachers is one worthy of further exploration.

5.5. Limitations

The sample size of teachers from public schools used was lower than desired, which limited the analytical strength of thisstudy. The data presented is quantitative, which is inherently used to compare groups – in this case, private school and publicschool teachers. This does mean that data is lost at the individual level (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2005). However, this paper wasintended as an exploratory case study to provide a snapshot of prevailing science teaching self-efficacy beliefs of supplyteachers working in Abu Dhabi. By identifying some common trends, this paper aims to serve as a starting point to developprocedures and practices that maximize successful retention of foreign recruited staff, and to potentially identify areasrequiring professional support and development. The use of science gave this case study a narrow focus for overall claims ofcultural adaptability and self-efficacy. Other studies using different subject areas as a lens, or more general measures ofefficacy, may yield different results.

5.5.1. Limitations of the STEBI A

Although the STEBI has received considerable support as an appropriate tool to measure self-efficacy (Bleicher, 2004;Lumpe, Haney, & Czerniak, 2000; Palmer, 2006; Scharmann & Orth Hampton, 1995), it has also received many criticisms,particularly pertaining to the outcome expectancy scale, some of whom choose to omit it from their analysis entirely(Palmer, 2011). The nature of outcome expectancy beliefs is that they can sometimes be externally controlled by factorsbeyond individual ability alone (Dellinger et al., 2008), which does limit the usefulness of results in predicting behaviours.Previous research has identified the influence of external factors on science teaching beliefs and subsequent behaviour(McKinnon and Lamberts, 2014), and we argue that it is largely external factors that will be the influence here. The STOEresults are presented in this study to provide a completeness of picture.

Other researchers have criticized the ambiguous language used in the STEBI, arguing that it is difficult to ascertainprecisely what teachers’ responses mean in response to questions on the survey (Wheatley, 2005), or if indeed teachers areresponding based on imaginary students (Matusov & Smith, 2000) accessing general self-efficacy beliefs rather than specificteaching beliefs. Finally, others have criticized the scale used in the STEBI, arguing that the five point Likert scale fromstrongly disagree to strongly agree does not represent a continuous range, with the middle response of ‘uncertain’ not being aconceptually accurate midpoint between agree and disagree (van Aalderen-Smeets et al., 2012).



We acknowledge the shortcomings of the STEBI, but also refer to the earlier sections of this paper where we outlined theimportance of measuring context specific efficacy beliefs. The STEBI has been widely used and validated (Desouza et al.,2004; Henson, Kogan, & Vacha-Haase, 2001), particularly in countries where the majority of participants in the current studyoriginate, and is specific to science teaching. For this reason, we argue that it is the best available instrument to use in thisstudy, so long as results are interpreted cognisant of the limitations described.

5.6. Recommendations for further research

The results presented here warrant further exploration in larger studies, not just in the UAE but in any countries orschools that rely on supply teachers. We recommend longitudinal study following teachers newly arrived into the countryand into their first years teaching in their new environment. Such study would allow school administrators to track theinfluences on newly arrived teachers’ acculturation, satisfaction and performance, and identify the most effective inductionprocess for new staff. Efficacy expectations typically chronologically precede outcome expectancies (Tschannen-Moranet al., 1998), so gaining an understanding of how these beliefs develop and change over time requires a longer study,particularly if the effectiveness of any professional development related activity is being measured (Lakshmanan et al.,2011). Studies that compare teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in their home country, prior to their expat experience, may becompared with their beliefs once they begin teaching in the culturally foreign context to test whether teacher self-efficacychanges based on environment. We echo previous authors’ calls for work which examines self-efficacy and general humanfunctioning in diverse settings (Klassen, Bong, et al., 2009; Klassen, Foster, et al., 2009; Pajares, 2007), particularly teaching indifferent cultural contexts which has largely been ignored.

6. Conclusions

The predominant findings from this study show that the teachers, irrespective of whether they work in public or privateschools, do not appear to have strongly positive self-efficacy beliefs about their science teaching, particularly in comparisonto other studies. This could be due to the inherent challenges associated with the nature of teaching in Abu Dhabi – that of avery culturally diverse population – which is reflected in its schools. Teachers not only need to meet and understand thediverse learning needs of this population but also must navigate the diverse cultural attitudes and practices towardseducation. The use of cultural induction programmes, including high quality mentorship, that focus on culturally responsiveteaching and differentiation may support teachers to improve their self-efficacy, and not just within a science context.Overall, there is a gap in the existing literature regarding the science teaching, and general, self-efficacy of teachers workingin culturally foreign contexts. This warrants further examination, particularly for countries that rely heavily on importedprofessionals.

Acknowledgement

Funding for this research was provided through the Zayed University Research Incentive Fund (RIF) R11021 grant round2010–2011.

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