DISCLAIMER: The following post was originally completed as part of my coursework for EDUC 520-Student Learning and Motivation, one of my grad classes. If you are not interested in education, this is going to be wicked boring. Please feel free to check out some of my other posts!
In the modern classroom, much attention is given to the students’ self-esteem, or the way students feel about themselves, but very little attention is given to the students’ self-efficacy, which refers to how capable the students believe themselves to be in regards to a particular task (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 278). Both mindsets are important to be aware of, but to place too much emphasis on making a student feel good about themselves without giving them the skills to accurately evaluate their own abilities does them a huge disservice in the long run.
In order to understand the enormity of the harm done to a student who is not taught self-efficacy, let’s look at the opposite side of the equation: what do students with high self-efficacy look like? Students with high levels of self-efficacy will be self-confident (Frank, 2011), because they are able to accurately assess their own abilities (Frank, 2011). They develop a deep sense of interest and commitment to the activities they are presented with (Cherry, 2020). They are willing to take risks (Frank, 2011) because they view challenges as something to be mastered rather than something to be afraid of (Cherry, 2020). Also, due to their ability to accurately self-assess, they bounce back quickly when things go wrong (Cherry, 2020) and have a realistic sense of accomplishment when a task is achieved (Frank, 2011).
Imagine the opposite of the above student. A student with low self-efficacy would have no confidence, low awareness of their abilities, lack of interest and commitment, be unwilling to take risks, be frightened of any task they perceive as challenging, dwell on their failures, and feel like their accomplishments were due to luck rather than achievement. Any teachers who truly cared about their students would be horrified to have students going out into the world that way, and yet so many students are, and the teachers are blissfully unaware!
Although a small amount of self-efficacy will happen on its own, teachers can do several specific things to build their students’ self-efficacy. One of the most obvious factors in self-efficacy, which by definition it is awareness of one’s own abilities, is performance accomplishment (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 279), so teachers can boost their students’ self-efficacy through providing ample opportunities to succeed and accurate feedback on those performances. Additionally, studies have shown that the more specific the feedback is, the better (Frank, 2011). Vicarious experience, or watching other people perform the same task, is another way in which self-efficacy can be formed (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 280), so teachers should take care to model new activities instead of simply giving instructions. Mastery experiences are very strong in developing self-efficacy (Cherry, 2020), so teachers should give students the chance to truly succeed at every task, even if it takes more time or multiple attempts. Verbal persuasion cannot be discounted (Biehler, McCown, & Snowman, 2009, 280). Teachers should be careful to frame challenges in a way that doesn’t make them sound frightening. Psychological response also affects self-efficacy (Cherry, 2020), which means teachers can increase it in their students simply by creating a positive, motivational, goal-oriented environment in their classrooms! Verbal reinforcement will also build self-efficacy, as it provides the motivation to repeat successful completion of a task (Frank, 2011).
Teaching for self-efficacy sounds like a lot, but many teachers are already doing at least some of these things. Others are simple shifts in the way teachers say things or the environments they create in their classrooms. Other changes may seem radical to some, such as allowing more time or additional opportunities for students to succeed, but if it creates a brighter future for a more self-aware and self-regulated student, shouldn’t any change be worth it?
References:
Biehler, R., McCown, R., & Snowman, J. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Cherry, K. (2020) Self-efficacy and why believing in yourself matters. VeryWellMind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-efficacy-2795954
Frank, M. (2011) The pillars of the self-concept: Self-esteem and self-efficacy. Excel At Life. https://www.excelatlife.com/articles/selfesteem.htm
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