Self Efficacy Paper

A students sense of self-efficacy can be impacted by four different influences. They include: mastery experiences on tasks, vicarious experiences provided by social models, social persuasions and their psychological reactions (Bandura, 1994). In this paper we will discuss the first three in depth, as they can be most impacted by a teacher. Lets start with mastery experience tasks. Having success on specific tasks builds a strong belief in a students efficacy, while failure undermines it (Bandura, 1994). Supplying students with moderately challenging tasks can be an effective way to engage and at the same time buoy a students self-efficacy toward reading. Matching students with activities and texts at their instructional level gives

According to Schunk (2007), modeling is the process of observing and patterning one’s thoughts, beliefs and behaviors after an exemplar. Teachers can not only model by teaching and demonstrating new skills, but also by modeling coping strategies (Walker, 2003). Ms. Warren models both the demonstration of using skills but also coping strategies in her second grade classroom. During social studies, she uses “think-alouds” to demonstrate her reactions to a biography she is reading to the class. She demonstrates her reaction to words such as outrage, pride & sadness. She also allows her students the opportunity to voice their reactions to these words as well as respond to one another. In this scenario, they are modeling the meaning of words while at the same time connecting to the story. In the midst of this lesson, Ms. Warren also interweaves the modeling of comprehension strategies. When she comes to the word opulent she says, “Hmm I wonder what opulent means. I’ve heard it before but can’t remember it. Let me reread that paragraph again and look for a clue.” When she is unable to define it through this strategy, she asks her students for suggestions on fix up strategies (McTigue, 2009). Here again, Ms. Warren effectively models both skills for comprehension fix ups as a model herself, but also allows the students to explain strategies and learn from one another. Watching Ms. Warren and other classmates model literacy strategies is an effective way to build self-efficacy in students because students watch and learn ways in which they can