Teachers' Sense of Efficacy and Commitment to Teaching

Abstract The present study examined the degree to which teachers' sense of efficacy, as well as other hypothesized influences on commitment to teaching, predicted 170 teachers' responses to the question, “Suppose you had it to do all over again: In view of your present knowledge, would you become a teacher?” General and personal efficacy emerged as the two strongest predictors of teaching commitment, along with teacher-student ratio, school climate, and sex. In short, greater teaching commitment tended to be expressed by those teachers who were higher in both general and personal efficacy; who taught in schools with fewer students per teacher; and who worked under a principal regarded positively in the areas of instructional leadership, school advocacy, decision making, and relations with students and staff. Teaching commitment also was higher for female teachers.