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skills, knowledge, and attitudes to develop their teaching practice before entering
the real classroom. As such, they may be well situated to help PSTs develop their
self-efficacy and competence in effective teaching practices.

Conceptual Framework: Sources of Self-Efficacy
Bandura (1997) defined self-efficacy as the “beliefs in one’s capacity to organize
and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (p. 3).
Dr. Andrea S. Karpf is an Self-perceptions of one’s confidence and ability impact student learning (Bandura,
instructor at the University 1997). Bandura suggested that self-efficacy and, therefore, teacher efficacy, are
of Nebraska at Omaha in formed through four sources: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal
the Teacher Education
Department. She is a persuasion, and emotional and physiological arousal.
former ESL teacher,
and her teaching and Mastery Experiences
research interests include According to Bandura (1986), the most powerful source contributing to PSTs’
preparing all teacher self-efficacy is the mastery experience. Mastery experiences are categorized as hands-
educators and teacher on teaching experiences that range from teaching students in individual settings to
candidates to work with
multilingual learners. teaching and managing a whole class. When a PST experiences repeated success
with different tasks, self-efficacy is cultivated and maintained even if failures occur
akarpf@unomaha.edu occasionally (Cansiz & Cansiz, 2019).

Vicarious Experiences
Vicarious experiences accumulate through the process of imagining oneself
teaching or watching someone engage in the teaching process (Clark & Newberry,
2019). In many teacher preparation programs, PSTs have opportunities to engage in
simulated lessons with a group of peers or observe others modeling a specific skill
or strategy. Studies show that vicarious experiences, like the opportunities described
above, correlate with and are identified as the second most influential source of
higher self-efficacy (Clark & Newberry, 2019).

Verbal Persuasion
Verbal persuasion is the process of receiving feedback, encouragement, or
mentoring from a trustworthy and credible source (Clark & Newberry, 2019).
Mulholland and Wallace (2001) determined that feedback from peers, inservice
teachers, or instructors can be a significant source of self-efficacy in PSTs. Although
feedback can come in a variety of formats, Rots et al. (2007) found that quality
feedback and supervision provided by university faculty or mentors correlated to
higher levels of self-efficacy in PSTs. On the contrary, if minimal opportunities to
receive feedback on teaching practices exist, self-efficacy will likely diminish (Phan
& Locke, 2015).

Physiological Arousal
One’s emotional, physical, and physiological well-being can influence an
individual’s perceptions of his or her abilities in various situations. Interpreting
stress indicators such as anxiety or nervousness as a normal response to a new
experience, rather than as an indicator of incompetence, can build PSTs’ self-efficacy
(Howardson & Behrend, 2015). Often, preservice teachers experience considerable
anxiety when teaching their first lessons in classroom environments. Allowing these
lessons to be taught in controlled environments with immediate feedback can help
PSTs manage these emotions and remove the physiological barriers that exist in their

30 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators