Elementary Education Online, 13(2), 412‐424, 2014. İlköğretim Online, 13(2), 412‐424, 2014. [Online]: http://ilkogretim‐online.org.tr 1 An Investigation of Prospective Teachers’ Educating-Teaching Self- Efficacy in Terms of Various Variables* Songül TÜMKAYA**, Lili BAL***, Fatma KARAÇOBAN**** ABSTRACT: This study aims to identify whether prospective teachers’ educating-teaching self-efficacy differs depending on the factors of gender, grade level, type of high school graduated, academic achievement, departments they attend, whether they chose these departments purposefully and their reasons for choosing the profession. The participants are 501 volunteer prospective teachers, 327 females and 174 males, attending Education Faculty (Departments of Classroom Teaching, Preschool teaching, Science Teaching and Social Sciences Teaching) at Çukurova University during 2010-2011 academic year. The data were collected through “Educating-Teaching Self- efficacy Scale” developed by Kan (2007) and Personal Information form developed by the researchers. The data were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests. In addition, means, standard deviations and frequency values were computed. In conclusion, data collected from educating-teaching self-efficacy scale and its subscales revealed statistically significant differences depending on grade level, whether they chose these departments purposefully, their reasons for choosing the profession and departments they attend. Key Words: Prospective teachers, teacher self-efficacy, educating-teaching self-efficacy SUMMARY Purpose and significance: Teacher self-efficacy is judgments that they have of their capacity to influence, direct and improve their students’ learning outcomes (Küçükyılmaz ve Duban, 2008). This judgment should encompass not only cognitive competence such as knowledge and skills but also affective competence such as attitudes and behavior. Identifying prospective teachers’ self-efficacy before they become teachers who will aim to integrate individuals into society can shed light on both pre-service education implementations and professional practices. In this regard, this study aims to identify whether prospective teachers’ educating- teaching self-efficacy differs depending on the factors of gender, grade level, type of high school graduated, academic achievement, departments they attend, whether they chose these departments purposefully and their reasons for choosing the profession). Methods: The participants are 501 volunteer prospective teachers, 327 females and 174 males, attending Education Faculty (Departments of Classroom Teaching, Preschool teaching, Science Teaching and Social Sciences Teaching) at Çukurova University during 2010-2011 academic year. The data were collected through “Educating- Teaching Self-efficacy Scale” developed by Kan (2007) and Personal Information form developed by the researchers. The data were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests. In addition, means, standard deviations and frequency values were computed. Results, Discussion and Conclusions: In conclusion, data collected from educating-teaching self-efficacy scale and its subscales did not reveal statistically significant differences depending on the variables such as gender, academic average scores, and type of high school they graduated. However, in the “planning teaching and evaluation” subscales, third- and fourth-graders were found to get significantly higher scores than the first- and second-graders. Besides, the scores first- and third-graders received were significantly higher than those of second-graders in all of the sub dimensions. Analysis of the relationship between prospective teachers’ level of self-efficacy and purposefully choosing the profession revealed a significant relationship in favor of those who “purposefully chose to be a teacher”. Analysis in terms of the departments show that those in the Classroom Teaching and Science Teaching departments got higher scores than those attending Social Sciences Teaching department only in the “planning teaching and evaluation” sub dimension. The analysis of the relationship between reasons for choosing to be a teacher and educating-teaching self-efficacy scores revealed that those who “chose to be teachers because they loved teaching” had significantly higher scores than those who had to choose the department because of their OSS scores”. *This article was presented at the I. International Congress on Curriculum and Instruction, Oct. 5-8, 2011, Eskişehir, Turkey. ** Prof. Dr., Çukurova University, The Faculty of Education, stumkaya@cu.edu.tr *** Res. Assist. Çukurova University, The Faculty of Education, lbal@cu.edu.tr **** Res. Assist., Çukurova University, The Faculty of Education, fkaracoban@cu.edu.tr