The Mediating Role of Student-Teacher Relationships in the Relationship Between Teacher Self-Efficacy and Teaching Practices in Turkey: Evidence from TALIS18

Abstract

The study explored the mediating role of student-teacher relationships in teacher self-efficacy predicting teacher classroom practices among teachers in Turkey ISCED level 1 schools. The study involves teachers who participated in the TALIS 2018 data collected through a cross-sectional survey; 3591 teachers participated in the TALIS 18 survey. Data was analysed using SMART PLS 4, and results from the analysis reveal that teacher self-efficacy significantly predicted the dimensions of teachers’ classroom teaching practices (ie.cognitive activation, clarity of instruction, classroom management). Self-efficacy has a statistically significant association with student-teacher relations. Finally, student-teacher relation partially mediates the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and the cognitive activation and clarity of instruction dimensions of teaching practices. The findings of the study imply that school administrators could provide professional development on increasing the self-efficacy of teachers to improve the effectiveness of their classroom teaching practices.