The contribution of field experience in special education programs and personal variables to the teaching self-efficacy of higher education students

Teachers working in special education are confronted with various requirements. Their ability to cope with these requirements may be largely influenced by their levels of self-efficacy which start to develop during their academic studies and specifically while gaining practical experience. This study examined the contribution of experience-related variables and personal variables to teaching self-efficacy among 98 special education college students from two different training programs in Israel: 58 participated in a program requiring individual instruction-based field experiences and 40 in a program with group instruction-based field experiences. They completed questionnaires measuring teaching self-efficacy, career decision-making self-efficacy, hope, and demographics. The instruction and special education domains of teaching self-efficacy were predicted by the type of field experience and personal variables, efficacy in teacher–student relations was predicted by experience-related variables, and efficacy in educational organizations was predicted by personal variables. Practical implications are discussed.