Teachers’ self-efficacy and appraisal of learner heterogeneity as a challenge and a resource in adult and continuing education

Research in adult and continuing education has documented substantial heterogeneity among adult learners, but less is known about which dimensions teachers perceive as relevant to teaching and learning, how they appraise heterogeneity, and how these appraisals are associated with their self-efficacy. Using survey data from N = 304 teachers collected as part of a sub-study of the TAEPS panel study, we examined the perceived frequency and instructional relevance of different dimensions of learner heterogeneity, teachers’ appraisals of heterogeneity as a challenge and as a resource, and their associations with self-efficacy in engaging with heterogeneous learning groups. The findings show that dimensions of heterogeneity differ in their perceived instructional relevance, with learner-related characteristics being more salient than broader socio-demographic characteristics. Challenge- and resource-oriented appraisals were largely unrelated, supporting the view that they capture partly independent aspects of how teachers evaluate learner heterogeneity. Self-efficacy was more consistently associated with resource-oriented appraisals, whereas its association with challenge-oriented appraisals was weaker and less robust. This pattern suggests that self-efficacy may be particularly relevant to whether teachers perceive opportunities for effective pedagogical action, rather than simply to whether they experience heterogeneity as demanding. By linking teachers’ perceptions of learner heterogeneity, their appraisals, and their self-efficacy, the study contributes to a more differentiated understanding of how teachers make sense of learner heterogeneity in adult and continuing education.