Examination of the Relations amongst Support, Class Belonging and Teacher Self-Efficacy in Turkish Pre-Service Teachers

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the contributions of support and class belonging to teacher self-efficacy. A total of 357 teacher candidates from the different departments enrolled in the Pedagogical Formation Education Certificate Program at a state university in the Aegean Region of Turkey participated in the study. Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale, Psychological Sense of Membership Scale and Perceived Support Scale were used to collect data. To examine the relationship between variables, structural equation modeling technique was utilized in the MPLUS program. It was found that the teacher candidates received the most support from their families and the least support from their instructors. Analysis revealed that the support received from the instructors was statistically significantly related to all the sub-dimensions of teacher self-efficacy. Findings showed that class belonging was positively related to all of the sub-dimensions of teacher self-efficacy. Findings suggest that when teacher candidates receive support from their classmates and instructors, their sense of class belonging would increase and eventually, their teacher self-efficacy would grow up