The impact of school climate on teacher enthusiasm: the mediating effect of collective efficacy and teacher self-efficacy

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the critical roles of school climate and efficacy (collective teacher efficacy and teacher self-efficacy) in teachers’ enthusiasm throughout their teaching careers. Based on multigroup structural equation modelling and mediation analysis of a sample of 4594 primary school teachers in China, this study found that school climate significantly affected teachers’ enthusiasm. Furthermore, collective teacher efficacy had a stronger mediating effect than teacher self-efficacy on the relationship between aspects of school climate and teachers’ enthusiasm. Among the four aspects of school climate, teachers’ perception of student relations had the strongest influence on novice, mid-and late-career teachers’ enthusiasm. Moreover, the practical implications of the findings for improving teachers’ enthusiasm at different stages of their careers are discussed.KEYWORDS: School climatecollective efficacyself-efficacyenthusiasm Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. The data of this study is drawn from a large-scale project. Some similar variables have been used to construct different analytical models in previously published journal articles.