TEACHER EFFICACY IN TEACHING SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES IN THE GREATER ACCRA REGION OF GHANA

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to determine the self-efficacy perceptions of Social Studies teachers in relation to the teaching of Social Studies in Senior High Schools in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey was adopted for the study. Multistage sampling procedure was employed to select a sample of 153Senior High School Social Studies teachers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analysethe data. In addition an independent t-test was employed to test four hypotheses that were formulated.

The findings revealed the self-efficacy perceptions of the Social Studies teachers. However, the independent t-test revealed significant differences in the perception of teachers’ self-efficacy based on their professional qualification, specialization and teaching experience but gender did not affect teachers’ efficacy beliefs significantly in teaching social studies.

The study concludes that teachers have high efficacy levels. This level of teacher efficacy is affected by teacher professional qualification, specialization and teaching experience. It is therefore recommended to educational policy-makers to consider introducing the efficacy belief instrument in schools to find out the efficacy belief levels of teachers before assigning them to teach particular subjects.