Knowledge acquisition on classroom management, self-efficacy, and Big 5: Do personal characteristics influence knowledge acquisition for classroom management?

This paper presents a study (n = 198) on possible interactions between the acquisition of declarative and conditional-procedural classroom management knowledge, the Big 5, and self-efficacy within initial teacher education. In addition, the development of student teachers' self-efficacy was examined over the course of one semester of study. The starting point was an evaluated course design for acquiring classroom management knowledge. Changes and relations were tested using t-tests, correlations and linear mixed-effects models. There was a significant increase in self-efficacy beliefs over the study period; furthermore, personality and self-efficacy were significantly related. In contrast, an interaction of personality characteristics with respect to knowledge acquisition could not be demonstrated for either declarative or conditional-procedural knowledge. The article thus complements and relativizes the findings on the role of self-efficacy and personality traits (Big 5) in the acquisition of knowledge about classroom management within initial teacher education.