Developing and validating a scale of teachers’ self-efficacy in relation to 21st century skills

Towards cultivating global competence in school education

Abstract

This study’s purpose was twofold: First, it was aimed at constructing and validating a quantitative measurement instrument to determine the structure of a self-efficacy scale that measures teachers’ 21st century skills on the basis of educational activities. Second, it was intended to analyze in what areas teachers exhibit excellent and poor self-efficacy. To these ends, empirical data (N = 132) were collected via a web-based, theoretically informed questionnaire applicable to the professional domain of education and intended to cultivate teacher education in a global society. The questionnaire incorporated 21st century skills, seven transversal competencies stipulated in the Finnish curriculum, and PISA 2015 global competencies, which considerably influenced the development of a Japanese course of study released in 2018. From a viewpoint that focuses on teachers’ practical and performative abilities in realizing the new course of study, the inquiry was directed toward the extent to which teachers can deliver lessons and work in school organizations. The exploratory factor analysis revealed three determinants. The results also indicated that the structure of teachers’ 21st century skills comprises three dimensions: interactive task performance, the ability to develop a pluriliteracies approach in foreign language teaching, and analytical design thinking. These findings enrich current 21st century skills and benefit educators and school organizations with an interest in fostering teacher education. The repeated-measures analysis of variance between the factors showed that the differences were statistically significant. The self-efficacy of teachers with respect to factor 1 was high, but such competency was low in terms of factor 2. The participating Japanese teachers considered themselves skilled at raising pupils’ self-consciousness and carrying out tasks such as active learning and project planning in teams, albeit they acknowledged weakness in developing lessons that tackle work in a global society. In addition, the findings on the three factors suggested the potential of teachers to design new frameworks that can be used across disciplines, such as science, the arts, and fields dealing with emotions.