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Secondly, religion seemed likely to have been an important factor related to the high level of engagement among teachers in Yogyakarta. As most of the people
in Yogyakarta are Moslems, Islamic teachings concerning the duty of spreading knowledge among human being seemed to be of great influence. Although the
Koran does not explicitly refer specifically to teachers, it repeatedly highlights the importance of spreading knowledge and the honor of havin
g ‗useful‘ knowledge, which means that the knowledge is to be shared with other.
Therefore, teachers seemed to consider the teaching profession not as a profession, but also a way to achieve a better life in the life after death. This
idea seemed to be a strong determinant of why teachers might remain highly engaged in this region.
6.9 Correlation between teachers’ self-efficacy and teachers’ work engagement
Spearman rho correlation analyses on the relation between revealed that there was a positive significant correlation between the
teachers‘ efficacy beliefs and work engagement see Table 4.8 on page 131 for detail Pearson Rho correlation
coefficient. This indicated that an increase in the level of efficacy would be likely to bring about an increase in the teachers‘ work engagement.
6.10 Conclusion
The overall level of teachers‘ efficacy beliefs among the participants was 67, which indicated a moderate level of confidence. In general this fits well with the
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nature of the teaching profession in the region where it is accorded high social status but not academic recognition and privilege. Although the findings still to
a certain extent reflect positive self-efficacy, the level of confidence was not very high. The first question that needs to be answered is whether such a level
of confidence among the teachers is adequate enough to bring about quality English teaching in particular and quality education in the region in general.
Positive expectations could be developed based on these results, especially when referring to the idea that teachers‘ efficacy doubts had potential benefits
particularly with regard to educational reform Wheatley, 2002. Wheatley has suggested that ―… it is difficult for teachers to learn and improve much without
experiencing efficacy doubts‖Wheatley, 2002, p. 13. However, it is difficult to identify how such efficacy doubts are grounded. It seemed promising to expect
that doubts were part of incomplete mastery experiences. However, there was not yet a guarantee whether such doubts were grounded in the developing nature
of the individual professional or were stimulated by the overwhelming outside pressures, like severe critiques from the society. Such questions are important in
order to better understand how improvements in the quality of teachers and teaching can be achieved. Answering these questions would be important in
anticipating the possible implications of where these doubts are grounded.
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Chapter 7 Conclusions and Implications
7.1 Introduction
Over the last three decades teacher efficacy has been the subject of a great many research studies resulting it being considered an important dimension of
teachers‘ professional lives. It has been shown to impact on teacher behavior in the classroom, attitudes towards teaching, how students are referred to, and the
various ways in which teachers cope with problems. It has also been shown to affect stud
ents‘ efficacy, motivation and achievement.
The present study investigated teachers‘ efficacy beliefs and work engagement
in the cultural setting of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It investigated questions related to the level of efficacy and work engagement among junior school English
teachers in a context where English is a foreign language spoken almost exclusively inside the English language classroom. It would be rare for these
English teachers to have the opportunity to communicate in English. Further it examined the complex ways in which social status, academic recognition, and
financial returns influence both levels of efficacy and work engagement.
In relation to the above explanation, therefore, a research involving characteristics of teaching profession in a specific cultural context is worthy to
be done especially as an effort to provide cultural comparison contributing to the theories of teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Besides, it also provides empirical
