Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Performance of Pre-Service Economics Teachers: Implications for Teacher Training

Abstract

Good teaching is crucial for implementing the school curriculum and is taken seriously by teacher training institutions. Pre-service teachers of various colleges of education are taken through multiple assessment strategies to obtain information for improving teacher training curricula to achieve the aim of training quality teachers for effective curriculum implementation. One of the ways of sourcing information for fine-tuning teacher training is the assessment of pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Sourcing information on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs helps to determine their readiness to implement the school curriculum after their training. This study aimed to assess the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service economics teachers at the University of Cape Coast using a quality teaching model as a framework. All 77 final-year pre-service economics teachers at the University of Cape Coast were included in the study. A questionnaire aimed at measuring the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service economics teachers were used to collect data. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics. The study’s key findings were that pre-service economics teachers were highly self-efficacious in teaching economics; male pre-service economics teachers had a higher self-efficacy belief than their female counterparts; and there was a weak, insignificant positive relationship between self-efficacy belief and pre-service economics teachers’ performance in off-campus teaching practice. It was recommended that female pre-service economics teachers should be encouraged more by their lecturers to help them improve their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching senior high school economics.