THE RELATIONSHIP OF PRIOR TRAINING AND PREVIOUS TEACHING EXPERIENCE TO SELF-EFFICACY AMONG GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS

This study, based on the theoretical model of Teacher Self-Efficacy pr oposed by Denham and Michael (1981), explored the effects of prior tra ining, previous teaching experience, and certain demographic variables on the teaching self-efficacy of graduate teaching assistants. An ada pted version of the Self-Efficacy Toward Teaching Inventory (Tollerud, 1990) was administered to a sample of graduate teaching assistants. G raduate teaching assistants with prior training endorsed a significant ly higher level of self-efficacy than those with no training. Correlat ional analyses demonstrated significant positive relationships between prior training and previous teaching experience with level of self-ef ficacy. Multiple regression analysis indicated that previous teaching experience explained a significant amount of variance in self-efficacy . Results are discussed in light of the current training and utilizati on of graduate teaching assistants, and suggestions for future researc h are offered.