Browsing by Subject "collective-efficacy"

The aim of this Master’s Thesis is to research teachers perceptions on the development of expertise and the role of collective-efficacy within those perceptions. The focus is on different teachers at different points of their careers and on how expertise development and collective-efficacy’s role within that are viewed by teachers themselves. The theoretical background of the research is largely based on prof. K.A. Ericsson’s expertise theory and prof. A. Bandura’s theory on self-efficacy and related collective-efficacy. Previous research has shown that collective-efficacy has a positive effect on, for example, teacher self-efficacy and student learning. The data of the research consists of two groups of three teachers. One group of teachers consisted of experienced special education teachers and one of classroom teachers at early points of their careers. The data was collected through semi-structured group interviews where Bandura’s theory on collective-efficacy was used largely as the basis of question setting. The research was conducted qualitatively, and the data was analysed using phenomenographical content analysis. The analysis is data-based, but theory guided the research due to its effect on the interview question setting. The results of the research indicated that expertise development and the role of collective-efficacy was viewed quite similarly by the two groups. The development of expertise could be divided into the following sub-groups: expertise as continuously shaping, areas of development and expertise, realisations, and student group. Collective-efficacy and its relationship with expertise could be divided into the following sub-groups: feedback and learning, discussion, exchange of teaching practices, leadership, sense of community and overall wellbeing. This suggests that there are similarities in the way the topic is viewed by different professionals within the teaching profession. The more experienced special education teachers’ descriptions can be characterised as specific in nature. The class education teachers described the topic in both general and specific ways. As a practical implication, more information from the topic could be added to teacher-education curriculum to increase student teachers’ knowledge regarding the subject.