Examining Differences in Teacher Self-efficacy for In-field Versus Out-of-Field Teachers of Physics

Out-of-field teaching has been shown to have negative effects on students’ decisions around their future studies and on the types of instructional strategies used to support their learning. Behind these challenges for students are teachers working to overcome challenges of their own: teaching out-of-field negatively impacts teachers’ wellbeing and retention in the profession. This paper investigates differences between the teacher self-efficacy of in-field versus out-of-field teachers of secondary school physics. A theoretical framework of social cognitive theory places teachers’ perspectives at the centre of the study. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of teachers of grades 9 through 12 science and mathematics in the four western provinces of Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba), a significant difference in overall teacher self-efficacy is found between in-field and out-of-field teachers of physics with a medium effect size. On average, out-of-field teachers of physics had an overall teacher self-efficacy of approximately half a standard deviation lower than their in-field counterparts. Teacher self-efficacy with instructional strategies is where the largest differences are found between the in-field and out-of-field groups. These findings have implications for continuing professional development needed to support out-of-field teachers of physics.