School climate as a predictor of teacher self-efficacy in schools for students with developmental disabilities

Abstract

Teacher self-efficacy is important for the quality and outcomes of education and positively influences the well-being of students and teachers in the school environment. Among the numerous factors that are linked to teacher self-efficacy, school climate plays an important role. The aim of this research is to determine the relationship between school climate and the self-efficacy of teachers working in schools for students with developmental disabilities. The sample consists of 150 teachers from five secondary schools for students with disabilities from different cities in Serbia. Data were collected using the Revised School Level Environment Questionnaire (Revised SLEQ) and the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES). The results show that the regression model is significant and explains 13.0% of the variance (R2 = 0.13, F (4, 139) = 5.19, p = 0.001). Relationships with students were identified as the only significant predictor of teacher self-efficacy (β = 0.24, p = 0.004). The findings contribute to understanding the relationship between individual domains of school climate and teacher self-efficacy. The implications of these findings for professional development of teachers in schools for students with disabilities are discussed in the discussion.