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speakers of English who could model them the language in use. The demand of producing students capable of speaking English for communication, while at the
same time lacking the capacity to support the task, might have been so overwhelming that
in the end it diminished the level of teachers‘ efficacy.
6.3.2 Teachers’ efficacy for instructional strategy
Among the five subscales in the teachers‘ efficacy scale, the efficacy for instructional strategies was rated the second highest by the participants, with the
mean score of 4.77. This high confidence among the teachers was not surprising as it was likely to have been the result of the CBIT attended by the teachers not
long before the survey was conducted. This was because the instructional approach, especially the one recommended for the implementation of the new
curriculum, was the major focus of the material presented during the training program. Familiarity with this approach may have resulted in the teachers
rating themselves as being fairly confident in implementing the instructional strategies in the classroom. Although their feeling of mastery could probably
not be categorized as a mastery experience as suggested by Bandura 1977, 1997, this expectation of success has elevated the level of efficacy among the
teachers.
Besides, there were also extensive follow up activities initiated by the teaching forums in each district and municipality aiming at improving the understanding
and mastery of the teachers. These follow-up activities took the form of discussion forums, workshops, and peer teaching. In addition the follow up
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activities often involved teachers in the region who were considered successful in the implementation of the recommended teaching strategies. These successful
teachers were good models for other participants. The presence of successful models provided access to vicarious experience and potentially boosted the
level of self-efficacy of the participants.
6.3.3 Teachers’ efficacy for classroom management
Among the efficacy subscales, classroom management was rated the highest by the participants. To a certain extent, this was surprising because managing a
classroom with a large number of students like those found throughout Indonesian is often difficult. However, for the participants, a classroom of 35
– 40 students did not appear to be a serious problem. They rated themselves as
being 72 confident in managing their classrooms.
The main reason why the participants rated their efficacy for classroom management the highest is related to the perceived control among teachers over
their students‘ behaviors. There was a strong indication that the participants interpreted classroom management as the ability to control students in the
classroom. This was supported by the fact that it was easy for the participants to find words or phrases in most items that tapped control-related meanings see
Table 6.3. Only item number two in the subscale, the efficacy for making their expectations clear for students, was probably associated with aspects of control,
while the other seven items were unequivocally connected to the sense of control.
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The identification of the teachers in relation to the connection between classroom management and teacher‘s control can also be found in the interview
data. One of the teachers in the interview was to some extent fairly authoritative in managing the classroom, particularly when dealing with disruptive students.
Table 6.3. Mean Scores and Standard Deviations of T eachers’ Efficacy for
Classroom Management
Efficacy for ... Means
of Confidence
Efficacy for Classroom
Management controlling disruptive students
4.95 71
making the expectation clear for students 4.89
70 establishing routines to keep activities
running smoothly 4.82
69 getting students follow classroom rules
5.34 76
calming disruptive or noisy students 5.33
76 establishing classroom management for
groups 4.88
70 keeping few troubled students from
ruining the whole class 4.93
71 responding to defiant students
4.78 68
On a seven-point scale These levels of efficacy that were driven by the sense of having control over the
students could be explained from two contextual factors. These factors came from the natural characteristics of the students. Indonesian students, like those
of other Asian countries, have the reputation of being silent and more importantly obedient. Expressing unfavorable behaviors in front of teachers is
something that is culturally inappropriate. This made it far easier for the teachers to handle and manage their classes regardless of the large number of
the students. Second, in the Indonesian context, the obedient nature of the students stems from the teachers‘ role to educate the students. From this
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perspective, teachers are assigned a role model function for the students. This role model function is also reflected in the Javanese words for teacher,
‗
guru
’. For Javanese, the word guru is an acronym for
digugu
and
ditiru
, meaning people to whom the society listens and looks up as a model. These two factors,
the obedient nature of the students and the role model function, helped teachers establish a perception of control among the participants and served as a source
of the teachers‘ efficacy beliefs in the region.
6.3.4 Teachers’ efficacy for student engagement
