Perceived Professional Self-Efficacy of Kindergarten Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers

Abstract

The study examined the perceived professional self-efficacy of kindergarten teachers (N1 = 204) and university students (N2 = 215) studying preschool pedagogy in Slovakia in the context of the influence of independent variables such as age, marital status, religiosity, years of experience, and education level. The kindergarten teacher’s perceived professional self-efficacy was examined by adapting the Teacher Efficacy Scale used in Slovakia. The research findings indicate statistically significant differences between in-service and pre-service teachers and provide reactions to the context of the influence of the independent variables. The respondents’ experience with educational realities emerged as the most significant variable. Experienced teachers and students with at least some experience had higher self-efficacy than the inexperienced ones. However, there is a group of respondents without adequate experience who, on the contrary, overestimate their abilities and thus their self-efficacy probably does not correspond to reality. Religious affiliation also appears to be a potentially significant factor, which played a role especially for pre-service teachers.