Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Integrated Article

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Education

Supervisor

Dawson, Debra L.

Abstract

The purpose of this integrated article dissertation is to present my investigation into the roles played by teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and organizational sense of belonging in the early careers of Ontario college faculty. The first study presents a mixed methods investigation of the effects of employment status on these psychosocial factors. Using a quantitative survey developed from a series of instruments in the literature, I collected quantitative data from 424 college faculty who were in their first three years of teaching. I also conducted focus group interviews with 27 participants in eight focus groups. My thematic analysis revealed four themes. The three themes of teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, sense of belonging were predetermined from the variables of interest in the study. The fourth theme, support for new faculty and all its subthemes were determined through inductive coding. The quantitative data analyses included descriptive statistics, correlations, and MANOVA. The mixed methods results showed that employment status had an effect on teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and belonging. The second study presents the development and analysis of a conceptual model of the effect of teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and sense of belonging on teacher engagement and approaches to teaching. This quantitative analysis of the same data set included MANOVA, ANOVA, and path analysis. The path analysis showed differences between the full-time and part-time faculty on the predictors of teacher engagement but not for student-focused approaches to teaching. Teacher engagement was predicted by all three variables for full-time faculty. For part-time faculty, teacher identity and teaching self-efficacy predicted teacher engagement, but belonging did not. For both full-time and part-time faculty groups, a student-focused approach to teaching was predicted only by teaching self-efficacy, and not by teacher identity or teaching self-efficacy. Furthermore, employment status did not have an effect on approaches to teaching, but it did have an effect on overall teacher engagement and the domains of engagement.

Taken together these studies establish the importance of the psychosocial factors of teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and sense of belonging to the teaching practices of faculty in their early careers, and it highlight some differences based on employment status. The implications are that onboarding and orientation programs for both part-time and full-time new college faculty should deliberately include opportunities for developing and enhancing these psychosocial factors.

Summary for Lay Audience

I researched the roles of teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and organizational sense of belonging in the early careers of college faculty. In the first study I examined the effects of being employed part-time or full-time on these three factors. Over four hundred Ontario college faculty who were in their first three years of teaching answered my survey and 27 of them participated focus groups. The results showed that employment status (part-time or full-time) had an effect on teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and belonging. In the second study I studied the effects of teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and sense of belonging on teacher engagement and approaches to teaching. This study showed differences between the full-time and part-time faculty on teacher engagement but not for student-focused approaches to teaching.

Taken together these studies establish the importance of teacher identity, teaching self-efficacy, and sense of belonging to the teaching practices of college faculty in their early careers, and it highlights some differences based on employment status. The implications are that orientation programs for both part-time and full-time new college faculty should deliberately include opportunities for developing and enhancing these factors to best support new faculty as they transition to teaching.

Download

Share

COinS