Date
12-2020
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)
Chair
David Gorman
Keywords
Grit, Self-efficacy, Classroom Management, Student Engagement, Teacher Retention, Recruitment
Disciplines
Education | Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Lee, Laurie White, "The Relationship Between Secondary Teachers' Grit and Self-Efficacy Beliefs on Classroom Management and Student Engagement" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 2751.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/2751
Abstract
Teaching as a profession is becoming more and more difficult. School districts are facing a teacher shortage, creating greater focus on recruitment and retention efforts. The majority of these efforts focus on novice teachers (within the first five years) providing support and assistance to help keep them in the classroom. Less effort is placed upon assisting the veteran teacher in maintaining effort in the classroom and avoiding burnout. Those who experience burnout or become disheartened show a reduction in effort negatively impacting student achievement. The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between teacher passion and perseverance (grit) and teacher sense of self-efficacy in classroom management and student engagement among high school teachers. This study was grounded in Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory, and Duckworth’s grit theory. The participants included 92 teachers drawn from a convenience sample across the four high schools in a large district in central South Carolina. Data collected from the Grit-S Scale and Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale was analyzed utilizing a product-moment correlation coefficient (Pearson’s r) to answer the questions of the relationship between grit and self-efficacy in classroom management and student engagement. This study increased the body of knowledge in the research of these constructs among veteran teachers.
