Development and Validation of the Questionnaire of Self-efficacy Sources for Primary School Teachers

Introduction: Self-efficacy is a person’s subjective belief about their level of ability. According to Albert Bandura (1997), the author of this concept, self-efficacy is a very powerful mental tool influencing a person’s performance. This study focused on assessing the sources that strengthen teacher self-efficacy. Research instruments for measuring these sources have had validity problems and have therefore produced inconclusive results. Methods: This study evaluated the properties of the SSE-CZ, a sources of self-efficacy questionnaire developed for Czech primary school teachers. Results: The SSE-CZ was administered to 984 teachers to check its psychometric properties. Using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, results revealed a four-factor solution with a good model fit. Discussion: The four-factor solution corresponds to Bandura´s efficacy sources of mastery experience, vicarious experience, emotional state and social persuasion. Conclusions: Though the current study was primarily focused on a research tool validation, it resulted in empirical evidence of the Bandura´s theory of the strengths of efficacy sources in enhancing primary-school teachers’ self-efficacy.