Student teacher agency and self-efficacy in initial teacher education: a repeated cross-sectional analysis of person-environment dynamics

Framed from a social cognitive perspective, this study examines the role of student teacher professional agency and self-efficacy in relation to a 12-week final school placement experience and learning environment. Data were collected at an Irish public university using a repeated cross-sectional design to compare the beliefs of undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers prior to beginning their school placement experience (npre = 255) and after completing their placement experience (npost = 236). The study employs the Student Teachers’ Sense of Professional Agency survey, the Learning Environment Scale, and the Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Scale. Results outline how professional agency predicts self-efficacy across the cohorts and show significantly higher reported levels of both agency and self-efficacy in the post-placement group compared to the pre-placement cohort. The included mediation model highlights the interaction between environmental and personal determinants within Bandura’s triadic reciprocality model. The results are discussed within the context of initial teacher education programme design.