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1. What is the level of self-efficacy beliefs among Junior School English
teacher in Yogyakarta province in Indonesia? 2.
Do factors like gender, age, English teaching background, teacher status, teaching experience, schools and districts affect the level of self-efficacy
beliefs among Junior School English teachers in Yogyakarta province? 3.
Does teacher training have influence on the level of efficacy among Junior School English teachers in Yogyakarta province?
4. What is the level of work engagement among Junior School English
teachers in Yogyakarta province? 5.
Is there any relationship between the levels of teachers‘ efficacy beliefs
and the level of work engagement among Junior School English teachers in Yogyakarta province?
1.5 Significance of the research
This study is expected to be able to contribute to the body of knowledge related to the teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs, particularly by providing findings on such
research that include the special context of teachers. Regarding the multi- constructs in the current research on self-efficacy beliefs, it is worth considering
how alternative insights may embrace cultural and political aspects of teachers ‘
work.
Nationally speaking, this research tries to provide a consideration of the development of the education system in Indonesia. Pressures currently placed
on teachers by both media and the community due to the low level of students‘
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achievement should be re-examined with the inclusion of the voice of teachers, more particularly about their efficacy and engagement to the profession. It is
believed that with this additional dimension, whatever evaluation and judgment is made would be more comprehensive and more importantly fairer.
For the teachers themselves, this research is expected to provide one way of expressing their aspirations, which are rarely taken into account in the
Indonesian context. So far a number of government policies addressed to teachers have positioned teachers only as an object without giving opportunities
for them to express their views, and feelings about the policies.
1.6 Conceptual framework
As discussed in the previous section the teaching profession in Indonesia, especially in Yogyakarta, offers high social status with regard to the respect
teachers are afforded by the society. However, the profession is not academically well regarded and teachers are poorly paid for their work. Such a
situation is to some extent contradictory for a profession where paradoxical embodiments in relation to social status, academic recognition and financial
returns exist. Questions, therefore, would immediately arise regarding the consequences of such a situation. One important consequence relates to the
representation of teachers‘ self in relation to their profession. A further consequence concerns how teachers act in the profession.
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Efficacy beliefs and engagement are important aspects of teachers‘ professional life. Although there are still arguments in terms of the direct relation between
efficacy and teacher performance, it seems to be worth anticipating that efficacy and engagement play important roles in the teaching profession. These two
factors become even more interesting especially when ability and quality are being questioned while financial return is not sufficient as in the Indonesian
context.
One of the sources of efficacy beliefs is mastery experience. Mastery experience is supposedly related to the level of preparation program one has. Efficacy
therefore is very likely affected by the amount of preparation program one has in relation to the profession. In terms of teacher efficacy, the kind and amount
of professional programs one has taken will potentially influence the level of efficacy. Sense of efficacy might contribute to the level of teacher work
engagement as well. There may be a possibility that teachers with a higher sense of efficacy would be more engaged in teaching or vice versa. Levels of efficacy
might also be influenced by both internal and external factors. For teachers, internal factors could be in the form of gender differences, age, educational
background, teacher status, teaching experience and the particular school subjects they teach. External factors, on the other hand, could be in the form of
supports from colleagues and school, as well as from the government.
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1.7 Definition of terms
