Psychometric properties of a Chinese version of 12-item Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale for Hong Kong in-service teachers

Authors: [1] Kim Hung Leung [2] Christopher H. K. Cheng

Pages: 112-119

Abstract:

Teacher efficacy is a powerful psychological construct which has been found to be significantly relating to positive teacher behaviours and students’outcomes. In view of the increasing trend towards the investigation into the cross-cultural validity of teacher efficacy measures, the aim of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of 12-item Teachers’Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) in Hong Kong educational context. In particular, the factorial validity and the internal consistency reliability were tested by confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s Alpha test, respectively. A total of 447 secondary school teachers participated in this study. The results indicated teachers’ individual efficacy beliefs were best represented by three factors (efficacies for instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement) instead of either one factor or two factors. These three factors could be further collapsed into one general dimension. Moreover, three subscales showed good internal consistency reliability. Therefore, the Chinese version of 12-item TSES is a valid and reliable measure to teacher efficacy of Hong Kong in-service teachers. Given that there is rich evidence of the construct validity of TSES in the West, this study provides additional support of it in East Asian countries, like Hong Kong.