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Abstract
The main purposes of this study are, first, to understand the practice of teacher efficacy and parent involvement in educational activities at class level from public elementary schools in Taipei area. Secondly, this study compares variances of teachers’ personal backgrounds and school environmental variables with variances of teacher efficacy and parent involvement in educational activities at class level. This study also explores the relationship between teacher efficacy and the extent of parent involvement in educational activities. Finally, according to the conclusions, the researcher proposes several suggestions for improving sense of teacher efficacy as well as promoting parent involvement in educational activities at class level.
The research method employed in this study is the survey method with a questionnaire. First, the validity and reliability of this qestionnaire, which was self-developed from the reviews of literatures and was amended based on suggestions from scholars as well as specialists, were soundly established through the analysis of pre-test. Secondly, there were 800 teachers sampled as research objects from Taipei country and city public elementary schools, according to the school ratio of these two administrative district. Finally, the data, 636 valid responses, were analyzed utilizing the statistic methods of Mean、Standard Deviation、t-Test、ANOVA、Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation、Multiple Regression Analysis.
The conclusions of this study are synthesized as follows:
1. The perception of teacher efficacy in Taipei area is 2.9073 under the four-point Likert scale.
2. The perception of parent involvement in class level educational activities in Taipei area is 2.7349 under the four-point Likert scale.
3. Teachers, responded as married、years of service above 15 years and under 25 years、ever taken in “School and Community” or ”Parent Education” related courses、teached in low-grade class, perceived higher sense of teacher efficacy.
4. Teachers, served in small-scale and remote area schools(total numbers of class under 12) , perceive higher sense of teacher efficacy.
5. Teachers, responded as female、married、years of service above 15 years and under 25 years、ever taken in “School and Community” or ”Parents Education” related courses、teached in low-grade class, perceived higher degree of parent involvement in educational activities.
6. Teachers, teaching in middle-scale schools(total numbers of class between 13 to 48)、 served in municipal area、teached in low-grade class、ever taken in “School and Community” or ”Parent Education” related courses, perceived higher degree of parent involvement in educational activities.
7. The relationship between sense of teacher efficacy and parent involvement in educational activities at class level appears to be significant.
8. The positive assessment upon sense of teacher efficacy, and the parent’s educational level both have highest predictability to parent involvement.
According to the analysis of literature and the empirical research, the researcher proposes the following suggestions as a reference for educational administrative authorities and future study：
1. Suggestions to educational administrative authorities
a. Educational administrative authorities should encourage teachers, teaching less than 15 years, served in district area, to promote sense of teacher efficacy.
b. Educational administrative authorities should improve high-grade teachers’ negative attitude toward the teaching context.
c. Teachers should encourage parents to involve in varied styles of educational activities.
d. Teachers should promote the extent of parent involvement in educational activities at class level.
e. Educational administrative authorities should encourage teachers, male and unmarried, to open dialogues with pupils’ parents.
f. Institutions of Teacher Training should offer related courses about parent involvement.
g. Institutions of Teacher Training should offer related courses of “School and Community” or “Parental Education”.
h. For schools located in remote area and being small-scale, the administrative faculties can encourage parents to volunteer for school affairs and instruct children’s learning at home.
i. School faculties should offer opportunities for pupils’ parents with lower educational levels to involve in educational activities and strengthen their confidence.
j. Educational administrative authorities can promote the parents involvement in educational activities at class level by means of starting from improvement upon sense of teacher efficacy .
2. Suggestions for future study:
a. The positive and negative assessment was an important hidden factor during conceptualizing the concept of teacher efficacy. The effects of the two factors should be considered in the future study.
b. The literatures reveal that school collective efficacy can improve the vicious circle of low sense of teacher efficacy. This is a topic worthy of deeply exploring in the future study.
c. The exception that teachers, a raw recruit and served in district area, show higher sense of teacher efficacy is worthy of deep probation by the use of qualitative research in the future as a reference for promoting sense of teacher efficacy practically.
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